The Multiversity: Tales of the Seven Unknown Worlds
by JudeDeluca
Summary: There are seven Earths within the 52 that no one knows anything about. Earth-14, Earth-24, Earth-25, Earth-27, Earth-28, Earth-46, and Earth-49. They have been sealed off from the rest of the Multiverse for some unknown reason. THESE are their stories. Featuring the Justice League, the Teen Titans, Supergirl, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Just not as you remember them.
1. A Quick Guide To The Multiverse

Disclaimer: Characters owned by DC Comics

* * *

When Grant Morrison wrote "The Multiversity" he left seven Earths out of the 52 up for grabs in case other writers wanted to flesh them out. Being a big fan of alternate Earth stories, I've been trying to come up with idea for all these different worlds and what they might feature. I've even been commissioning designs for my character ideas.

So here's a quick guide to the Seven Unknown Worlds.

 **Earth-14** : This universe is now the official setting for all of the "Legends of the Dead Earth" annuals DC did in the 1990s. It was an ongoing theme where every title's annual issue took place far in the future, at a time when the planet Earth was long dead. It explored how the histories of the DC heroes could be warped and distorted after so much time passed. A couple of the annuals explicitly took place within in the main DC continuity.

ADDENDUM: I'm aware that Earth-14 was recently used and introduced as a world home to that Justice League Assassins thing, but that was such a lazy idea I've worked it into my thoughts saying that particular planet was LITERALLY Earth 14, as in the fourteenth world in this universe to call itself Earth after the original was destroyed.

 **Earth-24** : It's a reworking of the old Earth-Twelve from the previous Multiverse, which was the Earth home to the joke characters called the Inferior 5. Now this Earth is bright and ridiculous, a comedic place full of many of DC's funny characters like:

The Inferior 5, Sugar and Spike, Angel and the Ape, 'Mazing Man, the Hero Hotline, Heckler, and the Logjam of Super-Heroes. It's also the home of Boy Chimney and Open-Window Man from the New 52's "Dial H" book.

 **Earth-25** : This is what remained of the Wildstorm Universe after Flashpoint wrecked everything, since it was previously Earth-50. Most of its heroes were transplanted to the main DC Universe, and those left behind are struggling to repair their Earth after it was decimated by Number of the Beast.

 **Earth-27** : My most ambitious creation out of all the Earths. Since 27 is the number 3 cubed, I turned this universe into a triple mirror reflection of Earth-3, home to the evil Crime Syndicate of America. In this universe, the Earth was split into three separate worlds by the Three-In-One, so they could each have an Earth to experiment with as they saw fit.

 **Earth-27A** : The Tragedy Earth controlled by Cynthia of the Three-In-One. This Earth is based on "Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham," an Elseworlds that turned Catwoman into Gotham's savior by giving her Batman's origin while Batman was a psychotic villain. I expanded on that and created a swapped Justice League comprised of Catwoman, Maxima, Silver Swan, Star Sapphire, the Hunter Zolomon Zoom, Ocean Master, Despero, Deadshot, Cheshire, and Chain Lightning.

The conflict of this world is its continuity is constantly getting rebooted every decade or so when the heroes can't overcome a string of tragedies. The one person to remember everything is Cheshire's daughter, Lian Nguyen, since her deaths are always the catalyst to bring the change.

This was inspired by "Higurashi: No Naku Koro Ni."

 **Earth-27B** : The Mystery Earth controlled by Mildred of the Three-In-One. This Earth is home to the good counterpart to the Crime Syndicate, the Justice Syndicate of America, and is home to numerous heroic counterparts to evil knock off characters. This world has been allowed to grow and includes numerous superhero teams such as the Justice Lodge, the Super-Stars, the Outcasts, the Rejects, the Elementalists, and the Vanguard of Tomorrow.

The basis of this Earth revolves around the mystery of who killed the first JLA team, the Secret Seven, as well as their archenemies the Crime Club.

This was inspired by "Umineko: No Naku Koro Ni."

 **Earth-27C** : The Horror Earth controlled by Mordred of the Three-In-One. This world features an evil JLA called the Justice 7 as well as a team of good villains known as the Academy of Night. It's a very dark Earth, almost out of E.C. Comics, because it's not that the Academy of Night is really GOOD but Justice 7 is so much WORSE. There are other superhero teams though, such as the Clemency Men, Heroines Unlimited, the Shadow Hunters, the Sisterhood of Peace, and the Legion Kids.

The Justice 7 doesn't include evil versions of Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, but are made up of characters who tried to steal or impersonate members of the JLA at some point. Midnight Man is Dr. Hurt, Astronaut is Cyborg Superman, Jaguar is Reverse Flash, etc.

As a rule, on this Earth the only characters that are good by default are characters who are the counterparts of children and descendants of supervillains in the main DCU. There's an entire community of super kids whom are derided as the Super-Brats.

This world was inspired by "Higanbana No Saku Yoru Ni."

 **Earth-28** : A Supporting Cast Earth, the basis of which is the best friends and love interests are the ones who are the heroes. This world is based on an old Lois Lane story where, asking the question if she was the hero instead of Superman, was shown a world where she called herself Krypton Girl.

The line-up for this world's Justice League, the Justice Sorority of America, includes Julie Madison as Raven Woman, Lois Lane as Krypton Woman, Diana/Etta Candy as Amazing Woman, Linda Park as Jackie Swift, Alex DeWitt as Torchlight, etc.

The other teams on this world include the Justice Coven, the Muses, the Legion Academy, and the Doom Platoon.

 **Earth-46** : Another reworking of an old Elseworlds, this world's the new home to the "Superman's Metropolis" trilogy. It was about a world inspired from German Expressionist cinema, incorporating elements from "Metropolis," "Nosferatu," "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," and "The Blue Angel."

Since this Earth was originally Earth-1927, I made it into Earth-46 because 19 + 27 = 46.

 **Earth-49** : The Meta Earth, it's a world that's home to all the in-universe fictional characters and comic characters the guys in the main DCU and other Earths are fans of. This includes the Gray Ghost from "Batman: The Animated Series," the Justice Guild from "Justice League," and "Hello Megan" from "Young Justice."

The conflict on this world is there are multiple versions of the Justice League popping up because they're so popular on the main Earth, and everyone's trying to figure out where these guys are coming from.


	2. Earth-27A: My Name is Lian Nguyen

Disclaimer: Characters owned by DC Comics.

This is all dialog.

Back during Grant Morrison's "Multiversity" series, he left seven Earths in the current DC Multiverse blank for other writers. I've worked on ideas for all of them, but I've devoted the most attention to Earth-27. Because 27 is the number 3 cubed, I came up with the idea to make Universe-27 a triple reflection of Earth-3, the world home to the Crime Syndicate (the evil Justice League).

There are three Earths in this universe, each playing around with the "Reversed morality" tropes in different ways. The first world, 27A, is based on "Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham." It was a comic about a Gotham where Selina Kyle was Gotham's hero, but she had her backstory switched with Batman. Her parents were shot to death in alley, she had a Catcave and a snarky maid named Brooks. Only Batman was made into a completely evil fiend who murdered Selina's rogues gallery to get rid of the competition before he tricked her into marrying him as Bruce Wayne.

I went with the idea and imagined a Justice League made up of antiheroes and villains who switched positions with certain heroes.

Catwoman / Batman, Maxima / Superman, Silver Swan / Wonder Woman, Zoom (Hunter Zolomon) / Flash, Star Sapphire / Green Lantern, Ocean Master / Aquaman, Deadshot / Green Arrow, Cheshire / Black Canary, Despero / Martian Manhunter, Chain Lightning / Captain Marvel

Only the problem with this Earth is that its continuity keeps getting rebooted after all the major crises and tragedies. So one era you have a Jim Balent drawn Catwoman, the next it's Darwyn Cooke, etc. The catalyst for this reboots? It's always the death of Lian Nguyen, Cheshire's daughter and the only person who remembers the continuity changes. You might remember Lian as the daughter of Arsenal from "Green Arrow" and "Titans."

Recently, DC killed off Arsenal in "Heroes in Crisis," 8 years after they killed Lian in "Cry for Justice." He's shot to death at Sanctuary, this place Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman set up for heroes and villains who want a safe space to deal with their traumas. Yes I am incredibly pissed off about it, thank you for asking. I wrote this dialog to just kind of vent about it and my general feelings of hopelessness at how things don't change.

The concept of the repeating timelines and tragedies was inspired from "Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni," with Lian taking the role of the Rika Furude character.

* * *

 _Sanctuary, 2018_

A nine year old girl with pale skin and green eyes, her black hair tied back in a ponytail, sits in front of the camera. She's wearing a red shirt with a black cat scratch mark design on it.

She speaks.

"My name is Lian Nguyen."

"My mother doesn't know I'm here, which doesn't surprise me."

"She doesn't know anything about me."

"And no matter how many times I've tried to tell her, she never listens."

"So I came here, because I needed to tell someone."

"Someone I was sure wasn't a figment of my imagination."

"I heard this place has total anonymity, which is good."

"I don't need to spend my last days trapped in a padded room before I die."

"I just…"

"It's hard."

"To keep pretending that I'm some happy, sweet little girl."

"The girl who gets doted on by the Justice League all the time."

"The girl who should be lucky to have Catwoman and Maxima and Silver Swan for her aunts."

"The girl with Deadshot for a father, instead of that druggy psycho my mom fucked once."

"The girl who keeps dying over and over and over again."

"And no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, I can't make it stop."

"Wait, why am I talking like this? I sound like a robot, it's ridiculous. Ugh, let me start over."

"My name's Lian Nguyen. My mom is Cheshire, and the sperm donor she slept with goes by the name Arsenal. He's locked up somewhere alongside all the other idiots in masks who think just because they had a bad childhood they should try to take over the world, or blow up the Earth, or something equally stupid."

"Or maybe he's dead. I don't know. I stopped caring about him a long time ago."

"I have a stepfather named Deadshot, and he's okay, I guess. Well, whenever he's married to my mom."

"They're both on the Justice League, but they don't seem to do much these days. Mom was the chairwoman for a while, but the Big Three were always undermining her decisions so she quit."

"Oh, that didn't happen in this timeline, so I guess it doesn't matter."

"See, that's my problem, trying to figure out what matters and what doesn't. I've gone through this so many times I'm beginning to lose the energy to keep track. Are my parents on the Justice League? Is there a Justice League? How old am I? In pre-school or high school? Am I drug addict again? Do I want to be one? Who is my best friend? Helena Kyle? Nessie Kapatelis? Mara Thawne? Mara _Zolomon_?"

"And who's going to kill me this time?"

"Last time our house fell down on top of me and I was crushed to death. It was still preferably to what Batman did to me that one time. The nightmares still bother me, which I guess is good because it means I'm still human."

"Or am I?"

"Because I'm reasonably sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. In fact I'm positive it doesn't. Because it's like I'm the only person in this stupid world who can recognize when time screws us over."

"One morning I wake up and we have a radio in our living room. The next day I wake up and in the place where the radio should be is this giant box made of wood and glass with a thing on the top. Mom said it was a 'TV.' What bothered me the most that morning is when I saw she was wearing a pearl necklace."

"My mom hates pearls."

"At least she used to."

"It just reminded me that I'm not allowed to change like everyone else."

"Oh sure, I have to pretend to go along with it. I get my memories altered almost like everyone else, to keep me up to date to a degree."

"There was the war with Atlantis. Then Themyscira. Khandaq. Vietnam. And all the wars before them. I still remember when my stepdad fought for the North."

"But I'm still ME. And I still remember what came before. So I have to fake it to keep up before I can try and do something about all these other changes. I'm never allowed the blissful ignorance granted to the rest of the world."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep acting like you're a happy 5 year old who's excited to see all of Mommy and Daddy's friends aboard their big satellite in space, when just the other day you were shooting up in your bathroom to forget this is like the 50th time someone's snapped your neck?"

"But why is it just me?"

"Why is it I'm the only person this is happening to?"

"Why am I the one whose death makes the world start over?"

"Why do I have to be the one to spot the threads and stop this from happening again and again?"

" _And why do I have to keep asking these questions?!"_

"I wasn't expecting an answer, so don't bother."

"The only other person I talk to about this, the only person who takes me seriously, is probably the reason why I'm in this mess."

"She's the one who lets me keep my memories when the reboots happen. But she only has the power to do it for me."

"And I'm like… why?"

"Why is it me she's singled out?"

"Why am I the only one who sees and hears her?"

"I tried to tell other people about her, but they thought I invented an imaginary friend. Mom used to gush about how cute I was with my little gal pal, Lori Morning. Of course in the worlds where I was allowed to be in middle school, she thought there was something wrong with me."

"And I'm all 'I'm not the one who slept with the guy who blew up Qurac.'"

"At some point I decided I couldn't take listening to Lori anymore, but I wasn't sure how to shut her up. That's when I learned getting high somehow blanks her out. I'd already been experimenting because I just couldn't take the stress anymore. It was during my first time on heroin I realized I couldn't hear her anymore."

"So, you know, that was a bonus."

"I don't do it all the time. I need at least one person in my life to talk to like a normal person. You know I-I need someone I can be honest with."

"And I've tried. I've tried so many times to stop this crap with her. The Crisises, the Zero Hours, the Blackest Nights, the Millenniums, the Invasions, I still don't even know what that thing with the Millennium Giants was."

"But no one wants to listen to me, and whenever someone does take me seriously it's five seconds before they get their heads punched off."

"I'm tired of seeing people kill my Mom and Dad. I'm tired of them killing ME to hurt to my Mom and Dad."

"I don't want my friends to be unhappy."

"But now it's like, whatever I do is going to make them unhappy. So what does it matter if I'm honest with them, or if I swallow an entire bottle of pills just to drown it all out? What does it matter if I ignore Lori even if I'm the only person she can talk to?"

"I can't hear her now, though. I took a handful of something before I started talking, I dunno. I didn't want her interrupting me while I tried to vent."

"I can see a vague outline standing behind the camera, so I assume it's her."

"Oh no, wait."

"That's a gun."

"So that's what I was hearing in the background."

"Ugh, she's never going to let me hear the-"

BANG!

 _ **Never Ending**_


	3. Earth-28: Will The Real Santa Stand Up?

Disclaimer: Characters owned by DC Comics

Here's a look at what the founding members of the Teen Titans look like on Earth-28, the Supporting Cast Earth.

I went in a very unusual direction for this but I'm really proud of it. See, on this world, the Fab Five Titans, Nightwing, Arsenal, Flash, Troia, and Tempest are all based on different movie monsters. Dick Grayson's a vampire, Roy Harper's a werewolf, Wally West is an alien from Mercury, Garth is a pirate ghost, and Donna's been made from different parts and organs all coming from different women named "Donna."

The five of them met and banded together, living in a small Alaskan town. One winter night, Roy found an abandoned baby deep in the woods and brought her home. The five decided to raise the baby as their daughter and named her Lian.

As Lian got older she became a fan of Cissie King-Jones, the superheroine called Queen Archer. Since Roy already taught her archery, she convinced her dads and mom they could be superheroes and they became the Fanged Five. Aerobat, Cap'n Stormbeard, Donnastein, Mr. Mercury, and Red Fang with their sidekick Frosty.

One day, Cissie King's plane crashed in the woods near their home, so Lian and her parents rescued Cissie and nursed her back to health. This was during a very bad time in Cissie's life, so she spent a few months living with them. When Cissie was leaving, Lian's parents asked that Cissie take their daughter with her so she could learn more about the world.

Lian's now a proud member of the superteen team, the Muses, but she loves her parents very much and is still a part of their lives. This is about when she was younger.

This was actually a Christmas gift for a friend.

* * *

Earth-28

December 24, 11:47 PM

A world much like the one you know, but totally different at the same time.

A world where an actress named Julie Madison donned the guise of a raven.

A world where a reporter named Lois Lane was the last survivor of a planet called Krypton.

But this isn't about them.

Once upon a time, many years ago, five outcasts banded together. They found safety being among those of a similar kind. There was the wolf man, the vampire, the alien, the monster, and the ghost. For years they lived together in a small town in Alaska, away from the people who sought to do them harm.

But then one wintry night, the wolf man discovered something extraordinary. A baby girl, abandoned and alone, hidden under a tree in the forest. The wolf man rescued her from certain death and brought the baby girl home.

Together, the five decided to raise the unwanted child as their own.

They named her Lian.

This is one of their stories…

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, a few creatures were stirring…

It was like a scene out of a Christmas card. The living room was decorated from head to toe in every manner of decoration… except for a manger, for obvious reasons. The tree was overloaded with balls and lights and bells and rings and tinsel and garland and everything. A fire had roared in the hearth at one point, but the little lady of the house insisted the flame be doused.

After all, they were expecting a special visitor tonight, and they'd need the chimney open.

Little Lian (this year using the name 'Troy' after her only mom) was snuggled up on the couch. She was surrounded by her multitude of stuffed friends. The ones she held closest to her in her slumber were a red wolf and a black bat, modeled after two of her dads. They made her feel safest when the real deals weren't around. She was nice and toasty underneath the patchwork quilt she was wrapped up in, and dreaming sweet dreams.

And that was when she heard the sound of bells.

Sleigh bells?

Lian murmured something in her sleep and turned around, until she was directly facing the entrance to the living room.

And there he stood.

"Santa?"

Lian stirred from her place on the couch and watched as a tall and powerful looking figure in a red suit trimmed with white entered the room. He carried with him a big sack bulging with what seemed to be gifts. He had a white beard and a rosy nose. Lian's eyes practically bulged from her head as she struggled to get free from her quilted cocoon. She scrambled to the other side of the couch and stood up.

"Santa!" Lian cried and practically jumped into the jolly figure's arms.

"Ho ho ho!" Santa's belly shook as he laughed. "Merry-"

"Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho!"

Santa and Lian stared in mute shock as ANOTHER Santa emerged into the room, from the doorway behind the couch. Only this Santa didn't seem as tall as the Santa who was holding Lian. His beard was just as white, and his sack was just as big, but his belly didn't shake like the first Santa's did. The only real similarities between Santa 1 and Santa 2 were the looks of identical surprise.

"But if you're Santa," Lian asked Santa 1, "then is that Santa too?"

"Um…" The first Santa tried to figure out what to say.

"Why of course I'M the real Santa," Santa 2 boomed in a jolly voice. "This," he motioned to the Santa holding Lian, "Is one of my helpers like you see at the mall."

"Ho ho," Santa 1 laughed as he put the confused young girl back on the couch, "I'M the real Santa, sweetie." He patted Lian's head with a black-gloved hand before motioning to the other Santa. "This poor, confused, ILL-TIMED young man is one of MY helpers."

Lian looked back and forth between the two Santas. She paced back and forth on the couch, pointing at the two Santas in succession.

"Is this how you deliver all those presents in one night?" Lian asked, clutching her wolf and bat toys to her side.

"No," the Santas said together. "I mean yes," they said in unison once more.

"Would you-"

"Excuse us, Lian?"

Santa 1 dragged Santa 2 out of the room. Or was it Santa 2 dragging Santa 1?

"I think Santa's in trouble," Lian whispered to her toys.

Outside the house, out in the snowy backyard, the Santas were having an argument.

"Roy what the hell?!" Dick Grayson, vampire acrobat, removed the fake beard and bared his fangs at Roy Harper, his co-dad. "I told you I was gonna be Santa for her!"

"No," Roy the wolf man snarled back, yanking off the fake beard to reveal his real red beard and HIS fangs, "we agreed I was going to do it. Were you even listening last week when we discussed this?! And keep your voice down!"

"I thought I was gonna be Santa?"

Roy and Dick turned to see Wahli "Wally" Wezz, alien refugee from Mercury, zipping into the backyard dressed in a Santa suit. Or at least, what he thought counted as a Santa suit. For one thing, the suit was green instead of red. And the Santa hat had plastic antennae and stars attached to it. And his bag seemed to be moving.

"Wally, are you serious?" Roy asked, motioning to that costume.

"What? I thought I'd give it a homegrown spin," Wally justified the bizarre costume. "Make it a Christmas she'll remember. Like Santa isn't an alien, anyway. How else can he deliver all those gifts?"

"She's gonna remember this, alright," Roy moaned.

"And what is in that bag?" Dick asked.

"Kids on this planet like swarms of things, right?" Wally innocently asked.

"Oh my-" Roy and Dick said in unison before Wally zipped off and then back again, the bag gone.

"Relax I took care of it," Wally assured them.

"What did you-"

"Trust me, if it was going to be a problem we'd have heard about it by now."

The werewolf, the vampire, and the alien stared at each other in mute frustration.

"I said I was gonna be Santa!" The three shouted in unison.

"Okay seriously that needs to stop!" Dick ordered.

"And while you're both at it," Roy angrily eyed his co-dads, "Take off those costumes right now!"

"No way!" Wally protested. "Why should either of you get all the fun? I never get to spoil her!"

"Because the only time you try is when you're asking what countries she wants when your people invade!" Dick hissed, his eyes blazing red. "World domination is not what you give an 8 year old!"

"You're just mad because she said I was her favorite dad after I said she could have Disneyland," Wally huffed.

"You are not her favorite dad!" Roy and Dick screamed together.

"Why should she even have a favorite?" Dick asked.

"Don't even try that card, Dick," Roy growled. "We all agreed I was best suited to play Santa because I'm built for the part. Garth and Donna both agreed."

"Oh sure," Wally laughed, "The Earthling managed to outeat the other Earthlings. It must be a day that ends in 'Z!'"

"'Y,'" Dick corrected.

"Why what?" Wally asked.

"You spell 'Day' with the letter 'Y,'" Dick explained to end this bit before it went further.

"Not on my planet," Wally explained.

"That's your excuse for everything!" Dick snapped.

"Wolves bulk up for winter, its natural!" Roy defended his bulky build. "At least I make an authentic Santa! I don't need a pillow like this hack!" Roy pointed an accusing finger at Dick.

"I'm sure an authentic Santa would also use a fire hydrant for his-"

"Ho ho ho!" They suddenly heard a voice coming from the open kitchen door. "Merry Christmas!"

"There's a third Santa?"

"Third Santa?"

"THIRD SANTA?!"

Roy and Dick quickly put their beards back on and ran through the kitchen into the living room, getting jammed in the doorway. Wally had already zipped in there to see another Santa Claus, this one slimmer and not even bothering to use a pillow, standing by Lian.

"I'M the Third Santa," Wally moaned. "This is an impostor!"

"So this is Santa 4?" Lian pointed to the new Santa and moaned. "I'm really confused."

Roy sniffed the air and recognized a certain brand of herbal shampoo.

"Donna," Roy whispered.

"Hi," Donna Troy, a woman who had been created from parts and organs that all came from different women named "Donna," whispered back and gave a little wave.

"Sweetie, would you excuse us?" Roy said to Lian in his Santa voice as he grabbed "Santa 3/4's" arm, "Santa has to figure this out."

"Okay," Lian sighed before turning to Santa 3, "so you're the actual Santa?"

"The media on this planet hasn't done my likeness justice, honey," Wally assured her. "Only the REAL Santa has antennae."

In the kitchen, Roy yanked off Donna's beard. He could see some of the stitching scars on her neck from when she was put together.

"Did I make a good Santa?" Donna asked. "I'm just glad I didn't have to come down the chimney."

"I know, I know, 'Fire bad.' Why did YOU want to be Santa?" Roy asked, genuinely confused.

"Well why should you guys have all the fun?" Donna chuckled. "Besides, I'm not in competition with anyone for 'Best Mom.' How does this sound? HO HO HO!"

"We're gonna be paying for her therapy until she's in her 30s," Roy sank down in a chair and sighed. "This is a disaster."

"Can all the Santas please come into the living room?" Lian called from the other room. Roy looked at Donna, gulped, and then slowly headed into the room where Lian and the other two Santas waited.

Lian sat on the couch, directly facing the four Santas. Two stood on the left side of the fireplace, two stood on the right.

"So there are four Santa Clauses," Lian counted. "But who is the _real_ Santa?"

"I'M THE REAL SANTA!" The four of them shouted at once.

"Can we PLEASE end this bit?" Dick pleaded.

"Okay, enough," Roy conceded.

"Thank you," Dick replied.

"No, I mean," Roy took off the beard and hat.

"Daddy!" Lian gasped. "You were Santa Claus all along? Is this a new thing for you?"

"I am shocked," Wally declared, "SHOCKED at this grotesque forgery before my eyes. I am not delivering gifts to this planet anymore."

Roy responded by yanking off Wally's beard and hat.

"Pop!" Lian jumped back. "You were Santa too?!"

"And so was I," Dick removed his own beard and hat.

"Papa!"

"Me too," Donna went last.

Lian didn't even say anything at that point.

"We're sorry, Snowflake," Roy addressed Lian with his personal nickname for her. "We just wanted to surprise you for Christmas."

"Yeah, Stardust," Wally apologized, "But obviously we didn't think it out very well. I promise I'll make it up to you. How does Euro Disney sound?"

"And now we probably ruined Christmas for you forever," Dick sighed.

"Do you hate us?" Donna asked, looking extremely regretful. Lian rolled her eyes.

"Of course I don't hate you!" Lian gasped. "How could I ever hate you? But if anything I think you should apologize to Santa for pretending to be him," she looked at Donna, "or her, without permission."

The four fake Santas looked at each other and exchanged guilty looks.

"Lian, um…" Roy said, shifting awkwardly.

"Santa isn't real," Wally bluntly said.

"Wally!" The other three gasped at Wally's brutal honesty.

"Then who's that?" Lian pointed to the door leading to the kitchen. The four adult monsters turned to see ANOTHER man dressed in red and white, holding a sack in his hands. He was covered in snow and seemed just as confused as Lian.

"GARTH!" The four parents said together.

"ENOUGH WITH THE UNISON JOKE!" Dick shouted.

"You kind of joined us too late, hon," Donna apologized.

"Yaargh, sorry 'bout that," a voice emerged from the chimney. Lian's three dads and one mom took a step back as a figure appeared out of a mist emerging from the chimney. What appeared was a transparent Santa carrying a transparent sack, but he spoke with a thick accent like the pirates you saw on TV. "Twas hard to get the nose just right for the lass."

Dick, Donna, Roy, and Wally began pointing back and forth from Garth the ghost, to each other, to the mystery Santa standing in the doorway.

"Who be this scallywag?" Garth asked.

That was it for Lian.

"I give up," Lian threw her arms up in defeat. "I am taking my toys and going upstairs and going to bed. You guys can figure this out."

And with that Lian marched upstairs, leaving five parents and one guy dressed as Santa wondering what just happened.

"So Santa," Wally broke the ice. "Is that an Earthling name? It sounds vaguely Venusian."

(The End)


	4. Earth-28: My Little Mountain Man

Disclaimer: Characters owned by DC Comics.

This was a commission my friend wanted, a story about a version of Roy Harper who was the biological father to Donna Troy's son Robby Long. Considering Robby's actual dad, Terry Long, was an obnoxious creep, I was more than happy to oblige and worked it into my Earth-28 continuity.

* * *

"ROBBY!"

Roy dove across the room, landing on his barrel chest with his muscular tree trunk arms spread out to catch the little infant boy who'd been climbing up the big bookcase in the living room and lost his grip.

"Da!" Robby cried as Roy got up and held his son closely to his chest.

"Man, don't scare me like that," Roy was practically trembling as Robby squirmed and moved around in his big arms. "How'd you even get up there so quickly?"

"Kwik!" Robby repeated as best he could while reaching up and trying to grab onto his father's thick red beard that was starting to turn grey. Roy had turned his back for one second and when he turned around Robby had already been halfway up those shelves the opposite end of the room.

"Yes yes, you are 'Kwik,'" Roy couldn't help but smile at the energy Robby had, "But it's late and it's time for bed."

"Beb!"

"That's right, 'Beb,'" Roy sighed and carried the child back to his nursery.

Roy still couldn't believe Robby even existed in his life, in Donna's life, in ALL of their lives. The child's conception was impossibility, or as Roy and the rest of the Fanged Five saw it, a miracle. They still weren't sure HOW Donna was able to become pregnant in the first place, but they knew it had something to do with Dr. Serafina Umbras, the woman who stitched Donna together.

The last time they'd met, the Fanged Five and the Muses were working together to deal with Dr. Umbras and the group of villains she'd assembled to take down Roy and the others. That included Terry, the annoying, unbearable man-creature Umbras originally stitched together to be Donna's mate.

" _So, giving it much thought and consideration I realize I MAY have overdone it when I made him," Umbras apologized, she actually apologized to Donna as she retreated with the remains of Donna's self-described "Ex." "Sorry about that Donna Dearest. Here," she snapped her fingers, "That should make up for it."_

" _WHAT should make up for it?" Donna cautiously asked as her creator and the other villains disappeared._

" _Trust me, when it happens you'll know," the scientist's smirk was the last part that remained of her before vanishing completely._

 _No one had any idea who or what Serafina Umbras was, but it was clear she wasn't an ordinary scientist harboring a blatant disregard for the laws of man and nature._

 _A few weeks later, Donna started complaining of cramps and was vomiting early in the morning. Since she was an artificial human being constructed from parts, limbs, and organs coming from multiple women all sharing the name "Donna," a specialist was required. They got in touch with their daughter Lian, a.k.a. Frosty of the Muses, who got in touch with her mentor Cissie King, a.k.a. Queen Archer of the Justice Sorority of America, who got in touch with Dr. Myra Mason, a.k.a. Midnight Nurse of the Justice Coven of America. She didn't bat an eye when she was asked to do a check up on a living corpse._

" _Honey please," the kind older woman assured Donna, "I've fought Hitler, nothing surprises me anymore."_

 _Everyone was worried something was happening to Donna's body, maybe she was falling apart, and then the results came back and it turned out something WAS happening to her._

" _Seems you've just got a touch of morning sickness, dear," Myra explained._

" _M-morning sickness?" Donna stammered. "As in, what happens to women when they-"_

" _Get pregnant?" Myra finished the sentence and smiled. "Yes, that's usually what happens."_

 _As Donna reeled from the revelation her body had somehow developed the ability to have children, despite the fact she had never even menstruated in all her existence, only one name popped into her head. The only person she ever had sex with, continued to have sex with._

" _You mean I…" Roy was having trouble processing this, "G-got you…"_

" _I've been like this for a month," Donna cried tears of joy as she told Roy and the guys, "I-I'm gonna have a baby!"_

" _We're gonna be dads again?!" Dick cheered. "I mean we're still dads but now we have experience this time!"_

" _Lian's getting a little brother!" Wally couldn't believe it. "Or sister, or whatever gender they'll have! You Earthlings are so picky about that."_

" _Yaargh, that's the way to do it lad!" Garth patted Roy on the back in order to congratulate him._

 _And then Roy fainted on top of them (well he passed through Garth since he was a ghost and everything). And he didn't have his winter padding to cushion the blow._

 _Lian reacted the same way._

" _I-I'm gonna be a big sis… sis…"_

 _And then she fainted. She always did take after Roy._

Here it was, a year and a half later, and they had a fine and healthy baby child. And judging from his ears and the little hairs he had and the way his eyes sometime glowed, Roy was definitely the biological father. But much as they had done when Roy found Lian all those years ago, the five of them all considered themselves the child's parent despite what blood had to say.

Like Lian though, Roy arguably felt closest to Robby. He was the one who found Lian, and he was the one who got Donna pregnant. Okay no, it was better to say Donna AND Roy felt closest to Robby.

"I know you get excited but little boys have to get their sleep so they can grow up big and strong like their moms and dads," Roy carefully explained as Robby fussed and fiddled with Roy's long ponytail. As he placed Robby back inside his crib he assured the child "We'll be able to play and have lots of fun tomorrow during the day, alright?"

"Day!" Robby said and spun away from Roy, hopping out the other side of the crib before Roy caught him again.

"You are quick, aren't you?" Roy marveled at how fast Robby managed to crawl out of his crib. "You sure you're not Wally's kid? Nah can't be. You don't have antennae." He inspected Robby's forehead and concentrated. "Or maybe they haven't grown yet."

"Tenny, tenny!" Robby laughed and clapped.

"Okay since you clearly aren't going to sleep anytime soon," Roy conceded and decided to start playing with his boy, "Let's see if we can't tire you out."

"Out!"

Roy sat on the floor of the nursery with Robby and let Robby crawl and run around as best he could, trying to climb up stuff before Roy caught him again. He growled and jumped up and down on his stuffed toys and chewed as them, as best a 1 ½ year old could chew them. Roy was nearly mesmerized by how lively and energetic Robby was, and he recalled how Lian acted when she was his age.

Actually, when he thought about it, there was a significant difference between the ways it felt when he held Robby and when he held Lian. What really surprised Roy was that it wasn't a bad thing? Like, Robby didn't feel like he was a replacement for Lian now that she wasn't living at home anymore and was out in the world with Cissie and the Muses. The experiences of raising Robby and Lian were similar but pleasantly different and distinct, and that made Roy happy. It meant that Robby would grow into his own person someday just like Lian. They were unique individuals.

When Robby got tired of mauling his toys, he decided to try and climb around on his dad as if he'd been that big bookcase, which made sense because Roy was a big guy but got even bigger during the winter months when he needed to bulk up as wolves tend to do. Roy laughed and stretched himself over the floor so Robby could have fun. Robby especially liked to crawl up Roy's big belly.

Roy figured maybe this was natural for a kid of Robby's unusual circumstances. Despite all the years Roy spent as a werewolf, he had no idea about what a natural born lycanthrope would be like so all of this was brand new territory. He wished Dr. Begay, the man who looked out for Roy during his first few years stuck in wolf form, was still alive to help him. He felt a sense of sadness recalling how his mother, driven over the edge with grief over the death of Roy's father, murdered Dr. Begay for trying to harbor Roy. Actually, she wasn't his mother anymore. Now she was a cyborg who called herself "Red Death."

But maybe Roy could use what he knew and lived through to help shape Robby's experiences.

"Geez kid, you are so persistent," Roy laughed as Robby crawled all over him, "Was Snowflake ever so pushy?" Then a thought occurred to Roy. "Hmm, I just realized you're gonna need a nickname too," Roy nuzzled Robby as he spoke, "Why should your big sister have all the fun right?"

"Nama!" Robby repeated and giggled that baby giggle of his.

"I agree, but what do you think fits best?" Roy asked as he mused on a suitable calling card for the latest addition to the family. "I can't call you 'Cub' or anything like that, right?" Robby shook his head. "Yeah, that's too obvious. And I am NOT calling you 'Scrappy,' blech. 'Howler?' Would that work? You wanna howl like your big bad wolf dad?"

With that Roy let out a nice, long howl, but Robby struggled to imitate him. He was just thankful everyone else was out of the house to go on patrol so there wouldn't be complaints about waking the neighbors.

Even though they HAD no neighbors.

"Ah well, you're young," Roy assured his child, "You've got time to develop a nice set of lungs like your old man."

Roy sat up as he went back to brainstorming a name while Robby continued to climb around him. "Well, let's see, 'Red' is too obvious as well, and so is 'Pup.' You know, you're actually more like a monkey the way you like to climb around. How about 'Monkey?'"

Robby stuck out his tongue.

"Hey, I'm trying," Roy didn't take it too hard. "Let's see, climbing, climber, mountain climber? Something like that?"

Then inspiration hit.

"I got it," Roy declared, "Mountain Man!"

That got a definitely happy response out of Robby.

"Mou man! Mou man!"

"That settles it then," Roy announced as he held Robby close to his chest, "You're my little Mountain Man."

(The End)


	5. Earth-27B: It's Just A Comic, Lian

Disclaimer: Characters owned by DC Comics

This story features heavy references to Heroes In Crisis as well as Justice League: Cry For Justice, and none of them are positive.

Finally I wrote about Blazing Bow and Sunbeam!

Okay, so, this story is about my version of Roy and Lian Harper living on Earth-27B. Or rather, they're Roy and Lian **_Begay_**. On this Earth, Roy was never taken in by Oliver Queen and was raised solely by his foster father Raymond Begay in Arizona. Roy is also Navajo by blood on this Earth and is dark skinned.

Raymond Begay, a.k.a. Brave Bow, was this world's Green Arrow like figure, as Oliver Queen is its Donald Trump stand-in. I got tired of people not focusing enough on Roy's relationship with his first foster dad in the comics, so I made it prominent on this world. Raymond was a member of this world's first JLA team, the Secret Seven, but he died alongside them and their enemies in the Crime Club.

After Raymond died, Roy became a superhero himself and created the name Blazing Bow before founding the Justice Syndicate of America along with other heroes who were connected to the Secret Seven. He was never Raymond's sidekick so he never started out as a Speedy-like character. That honor goes to Lian, whose mom is still a version of Cheshire. Lian becomes Roy's sidekick under the name Sunbeam and joins a group called the Super-Stars, who are this world's Teen Titans equivalent.

The other Super-Stars include versions of Rachel Grayson (Dick Grayson's sister from Earth-3), Koryak (Aquaman's Inuit son), Vanessa Kapatelis (Wonder Woman's kid sister), and Tanaka Rei (Who was the Flash of the ethnically diverse Earth-D).

Roy would later marry Donna Troy, an Irish heroine who calls herself Etain. The two of them have a daughter named Phoebe, making Lian a big sister.

Some of the members of the Justice Syndicate who are prominent in this story are Tim Wayne, a.k.a. Owlwing, Diyata Disari, a.k.a. Grey Tiger, and Dominique Wayne, a.k.a. Ankou. Tim is a combo of Tim Drake, Thomas Wayne Jr., and Helena Wayne, as he's a transgender man who previously went by Elena. Diyata Disari is not Dinah Lance or Drake, but is based on an unused Black Canary concept from DC's "First Wave." Dominique is a version of the Spectre based on a minor Batman character.

* * *

"Let's see… _Justice Squadron_ , no looks like this is the middle of a crossover I won't know what's going on… a _Hyperwoman_ graphic novel, hmm too heavy for light reading… _Super-Americans_ but ugh Liefeld is still working on stuff how does he keep getting work… _Teen Guardian_ #0, hey an origin issue she looks cool, and… wait. Wait is this…? Oh ewww…!" Navajo teenager Lian Begay couldn't believe it. "I don't believe it. Hey, Rei!"

"WHAT?" Rei Tanaka called back from his spot in the couch in the game room, trying not to take his eyes off the round of the "Justice 9" video game he was playing with Rachel Grayson.

"You actually buy _DC_ comics?" Lian couldn't comprehend such a thing as she looked at the stack of comics Rei allowed her to pull out of his backpack for some late night reading. She knew Rei was a dork (they were ALL dorks in her opinion, including herself) but she thought Rei had TASTE. Although judging from how all his pajama shirts were references to outdated internet memes, this should've told her something.

"They're not THAT bad!" Rei tried to defend his purchase in graphic novels, being well aware of the reputation DC Comics had as a bottom of the barrel publisher manned by a bunch of grabby, maladjusted morons. They had a couple of okay writers, like the one who did that _Eternity Girl_ comic.

"Rei stop cheating!" Rachel ordered as she struggled to land a point on her teammate and best friend in the Super-Stars.

"I'm not I'm just hitting the A button!" Rei defended his actions as, on the TV screen, his Red Racer beat the snot out of her Iron Knight.

"You're hitting the A button with super speed," Rachel kept trying to deliver a combo but Rei wouldn't let up, "And you better not break another controller or else Tim's gonna have my head."

"Tim Wayne is a billionaire," Rei reminded her as if she didn't know about the man who took her in after her parents and brother were murdered, "He can afford a new game controller."

"Is that what you said after he found out about the Wingcycle Incident?" Rachel snarked as Lian threw herself over the couch, coming between her bickering friends and distracting them from their ongoing onslaught.

"You know President Weenie uses that company to promote stories with his self insert knock-off!" Lian waved the offending comic in her hand as if to emphasize her point. Anyone with half a brain called current President Oliver Queen by that nickname, because it was true. "It's all a bunch of straight white guy versions of our parents and partners, including my dad and Rachel's brother," Lian quickly flipped through the book without paying attention. "I mean, look at this," Lian practically shoved the cover into their faces as she pointed to a woman dressed in familiar armor and scoffed. "Who'd ever believe Superamazon was _white_?"

"The guy at the store told me that comic was hot right now, I was curious!" Rei offered up his side of the story, neglecting to mention the store clerk who helped him out looked as though he drank bleach while discussing that particular comic. "I haven't even read it-RACHEL NO FAIR!"

"Shouldn't have let your guard down, Rei," Rachel smirked as she finally landed a killing blow on Rei's character, "Thanks for the distraction Lian."

"Thanks, _Lian_ ," Rei muttered as he glared in her direction before asking "Wanna play with us instead?"

"Nah," Lian got off the couch, straightening out her "Ask Me About My Dad's Feminist Agenda" shirt as she stood. "If I start playing now I'll be up the whole night, but thanks."

"Just don't spoil that comic for me," Rei asked and then settled on another round with Rachel. He was prepared to kick her bat ass. "Okay this time, I get to be Iron Knight."

"No way! I called dibs," Rachel was offended.

"But I lost," Rei pleaded, "I should get first pick of characters. Isn't that the polite thing to do?"

"First time I've ever heard of such a thing," Rachel rolled her eyes. "Besides, this is MY house and I get to be Iron Knight."

"This is Tim's house," Rei threw back as he poked her Gotham Knights jersey.

"It's my game."

"It's Tim's game."

"You're on MY team!"

"It's OUR team!"

"Guys, guys!" Lian threw herself between Japanese American teen and the Romani girl again, planting a kiss on both their cheeks. "Come on, no need to fight, I think you're both beautiful."

"Yes dear," Rachel and Rei groaned together and kissed her back. "Okay, you can be Iron Knight," Rachel smirked at Rei as she decided "I'm gonna be Merman."

"Pfft, you think I'm scared of Merman?" Rei laughed. Rachel didn't have the heart to tell him she'd mastered the ULTIMATE combo technique for that character. Why spoil the surprise?

Lian heard them continue their game as she retreated back to the guest room she was staying in. She knew Koryak was out hunting for a late night snack (what kind of snack, exactly, she didn't want to know) and Vanessa Kapatelis, her best friend in the whole world, was still asleep.

It still felt weird, getting to spend the weekend in a giant mansion with her four closest friends outside of Arizona. It wasn't the first time the Super-Stars, the death-defying acrobatic Batclaw, the upbeat archer Sunbeam, the living whirlwind Twister Kid, the aquatic vampire Typhoon, and the sonic warrior Swanmaiden, had gotten together as friends, but it was the first time the five of them were together in Wayne Manor.

Rachel was slightly embarrassed about how rich her foster brother (she didn't want to think of him as a dad) was. If she were honest with herself, she was still getting used to living with Tim after her family was murdered by the supervillainess Strawflower. She still missed her biological brother, Dick. She missed the way they supported one another on the trapeze in Hayley's Circus, and how he said he'd always be there to catch her if she fell. No one was there to catch him when _he_ fell, and it ate Rachel up inside.

But the Super-Stars were cool about it, and only playfully teased Rachel about her swanky digs whenever she brought it up first and only when she was in a joking mood.

Lian was having trouble sleeping in such an unfamiliar abode, and looked for something to help her relax. She would've read her own comics (she was a fan of _Nuclea_ , _House of Gems_ , and, not that she'd admit it, the reboot of _Hello, Megan!_ ) but forgot to bring them with her. Thankfully Rei was a fellow comic nerd and almost always had a copy or two on him whenever they weren't fighting bad guys like Captain Conundrum or the Minor Arcana.

As Lian entered the guest bedroom, she tiptoed in and turned on a small light by the nightstand. Vanessa was in the bed opposite her, and Lian didn't want to disturb her slumber. You try dealing with a cranky Valkyrie in training. Lian propped herself up on some pillows and got comfortable. Looking at the comics, she sighed. Well, if anything, DC comics were good for a laugh at how bad they were. And they weren't as offensive as that God awful dreck W. Simmons wrote about Lian's late grandfather, Brave Bow, and his friends in the Secret Seven. Still, Lian couldn't believe anyone would support or pay attention to comic where her dad was not only white, but _Oliver Queen's_ _sidekick_.

She held up the DC comic in question and read the title aloud.

"Heroes In Crisis #1…"

…

"So yeah, make yourself at home while I get the tea ready."

"Are you sure I'm not imposing?"

"Not at all, Diyata. Besides, I hate coming home to an empty house. Well, it's never really empty."

Roy Begay, the tall, beefy archer who also went by Blazing Bow, unlocked the front door of his Arizona abode and invited inside Diyata Disari, a.k.a. the Grey Tiger of Star City.

"Sorry it's a bit of a mess," Roy turned on a hall light and apologized before turning to a framed photo on the wall and greeting it with a cheery "Hey dad."

As Roy took off his mask, quiver, and jacket, and hung them in the hall closet with his bow, Diyata got a closer look at the photo Roy spoke to. She saw a much older man with graying hair, and a short, skinny redhead she could only assume was Roy when he was younger. The two were standing in an archery range and Roy was flashing two "V" signs with his hands. The older man, Roy's foster dad Raymond Begay, looked proud.

"God I can't believe you were so tiny," Diyata marveled as she took off her grey jacket and then her white wig, revealing her muscular arms and black curls. "Or that you had short hair," she added, casting her glance to Roy's thick, magnificent mane of red hair.

"I was a shrimp alright," Roy laughed, wondering how he'd ever been so small and skinny before. He'd definitely filled out as he got older, horizontally AND vertically.

"I'm guessing that was your punk phase?" Diyata laughed as she pointed to the spiked bracelets mini-Roy had on.

"Do not remind me," Roy groaned, but smiled. Despite what he said, and despite how bad the music was back then, those were good times.

"Where can I put these?" Diyata asked, motioning to her wig and jacket. "I mean, I don't want to leave them just anywhere."

"Oh don't worry about it," Roy assured her, motioning to the messy living room littered with toys and junk belonging to both his daughters. "Just drop 'em where you feel. You can go wash your make-up off if you want while I put the water on. You take honey, right?"

"Yes please," Diyata was grateful as she placed a hand over her throat, "Helps after a long night unleashing my growl."

"I can imagine," Roy called back as he busied himself in the kitchen. "You want something to eat too?"

"Just tea is fine!" Diyata answered back from the first floor bathroom.

As Roy put the kettle on the stove and let the water boil, he took the opportunity to head into his and his wife Donna's bedroom to finally change out of his clothes. After a long day at the ranger station and then a night fighting supervillains, nothing felt better than getting into a pair of sweats and a comfortable t-shirt.

While getting his boots off, Roy dialed Donna and put her on speaker phone.

"Hey Ranger Roy," his wife replied in that beautiful Irish accent that drove Roy wild with passion.

"Hey Butterfly," Roy replied using his nickname for his beloved spouse, "I'm not waking you up am I?"

"No, I'm just putting the finishing touches on this display," Donna explained. "I've been up most the night."

"Is the museum paying you overtime for those photos?" Roy inquired, hoping they weren't taking advantage of her skills as a photographer and artiste.

"They better be," Donna replied, "After all the harping they've done about this new exhibit."

"How's our Moongirl?" Roy asked about his and Donna's baby girl, "Not driving the grandparents nuts is she?"

"Phoebe? Of course but they loved it," Donna laughed as she explained "They're spoiling her rotten though. I keep telling them not to spend so much but they insist on giving her whatever she wants."

"She's one," Roy smirked, "Whatever she wants means anything she can grab."

"You should see her aim though," Donna recalled how often Phoebe would throw around her stuffed animals as Gran and Gramps kept trying to take pictures of her with them all, "There's no doubt she's your daughter."

"She's OUR daughter," Roy said. "I wish we could get those two stateside so they can spend time with Lian, too. She deserves to have ONE set of grandparents in her life."

"Speaking of," Donna tried to change the subject since it annoyed her too how little her parents were interested in knowing her older daughter, "How is our Sunshine?"

"Oh she's spending the weekend with Rachel and the kids, driving Tim nuts I'll bet," Roy mentioned, stroking the beard on his chin in careful contemplation. Ah they were all good kids, Roy believed. "But I haven't gotten any calls yet so I assume the Super-Stars didn't blow up another of his cars."

"Or they just got better at hiding the wreckage," Donna proposed. "So you've got the house all to yourself? Lucky guy."

"Please, you know I can't stand it when I'm alone," Roy sighed and revealed "I've actually got Diyata over."

"That's nice," Donna loved Diyata though she didn't understand her taste in music. "Syndicate business?"

"We just wrapped up a case," Roy started to give her the details, "She was tracking an East Coast guy, goes by the name Candyman. He was trying to set up a drug lab a few miles outside of Oljato. Some super steroid, 'Tar' I think."

"Ugh!" Roy could only imagine the disgusted expression on his wife's face at the thought of more drug traffickers trying to invade their home. "But you guys took care of it no problem?"

"They weren't a match for the dynamic duo of Blazing Bow and Grey Tiger," Roy flexed his muscular arms in a heroic pose even though Donna couldn't see it. "Too bad they didn't get to see Blazing Bow and Etain in action," Roy referred to Donna by her super name and the name of her past life incarnation.

"Let's hope there won't be a next time for them," Donna said when suddenly Roy heard a shrill whistling sound.

"Oop, water's done! Gotta go, love you hon, and tell Moongirl her daddy loves her too."

"Love you too, say hi to Di for me and the same to Sunshine," Donna finished before hanging up.

Roy couldn't help but smile as he thought about how much Donna loved Lian, even though she wasn't her biological mother. That honor went to Jade Nguyen, a mercenary who operated under the persona non grata of Queen of Hearts. Roy was happy Lian was as close to Donna as he'd been to Raymond Begay, his dad who took him in when his birth parents died in a forest fire. There was no doubt Lian considered Donna her mom, although she still acknowledged Jade had a presence in her life as her birth mother even if Roy no longer loved her.

Roy hurried into the kitchen and got the kettle off the stove just as Diayata left the bathroom. She'd finished wiping off the tiger stripes she painted on her face to complete her heroine ensemble, revealing brown skin a similar shade to Roy's. Only she didn't have freckles like him.

"Donna says 'Hi,'" Roy mentioned to his Justice Syndicate teammate as he began to pour water in two mugs.

"Cool shirt," Diyata complimented Roy on his pink tee that said "Ask About My Daughter's Feminist Agenda." Comfortable around the belly AND political, what more could a man want in a shirt? "So where is Donna?"

"Helping out with some museum in Ireland," Roy began to stir honey in the two mugs, "Some archaeological discovery. It's a lost civilization similar to Phil's people," Phil meant Phillipus, as in the Amazon general who operated as Superamazon. "They have Donna on site taking photographs, and since her parents live nearby she brought Phoebe with her for a mini vacation."

"They just happened to be living near the exact site of a lost civilization of proto-Amazonians," Diyata found that hard to believe.

"Eh, they rented a room," Roy admitted as he handed Diyata her tea. "They have enough to spend on an extended stay hotel room and to shower Phoebe with gifts, but they can't afford plane tickets to visit us."

"Why not get Dominique or Julio to help?" Diyata inquired.

"Donna's parents are not really fans of us being superheroes," Roy scratched the back of his head, remembering more than a few awkward conversations and the way his in-laws acted during the wedding. They had a hard enough time accepting Donna was the reincarnation of a figure from Celtic mythology.

"Oh sweet relief," Diyata sighed as she took a small sip of tea and exhaled. "You have no idea how much I needed this. Using the Tiger Growl can be such a drain whenever I've got a show coming up."

When Diyata wasn't working at the Star City police station or growing roses or dressing up as Grey Tiger, she sang in a heavy metal band called the Birds of Prey. Roy and some of their teammates went to her shows whenever they were in the area. Lian was much a fan as he was of their latest song, "Queen Killer Shark."

"You sure you don't want anything to eat to go with it?" Roy blew the steam off his own tea before asking "Did you have dinner or anything tonight?"

"I'm fine, really. Don't trouble yourself on my account," Diyata gently turned down his offer. "The tea's enough for me, Roy."

Roy grinned and got up close to Diyata, whispering in her ear "I made corn muffins."

"Hot damn!" Diyata set her mug down and looked excited. Among all of the Justice Syndicate of America, everyone knew Roy was a great cook. He had to be in order to take care of Lian by himself, before Donna entered the picture and before Phoebe was born. Whenever someone in the Syndicate had a birthday, Roy supplied the cake (or pie, if need be). Sometimes people looked for excuses just to get him to bake, and he was all too happy to oblige though he was modest about his skills. He never had a problem whipping something up at 3 in the morning at the Syndicate's HQ. He loved taking care of people and being there for them, especially his family.

"Funny you should say that cuz I did burn them a little," Roy revealed as he opened a container of slightly dark muffins. "Not too bad is it?"

"Hon they're gorgeous," Diyata was practically drooling, realizing she was indeed hungry.

"Want jam or anything?" Roy asked when his phone began to buzz. The caller ID said it was Lian. "Un momento. Sunflower, hi! Why are you sti-"

"Daddy?!" Lian practically screamed. "Are you okay?!"

"Lian?" Roy set his mug down and Diyata stopped eating when she saw the concerned look on his face. "Lian, what's-"

"I, I just, you, it had, y-you were, you were!" Roy could hear Lian sobbing over the phone before she began babbling in what Diyata figured was the Navajo language Roy and Lian both spoke and were raised on. Trouble is she had no idea what Lian was saying, but Roy did.

"Lian, Lian!" Roy replied back trying to get her calm down, looking more and more anxious but trying his hardest not to panic.

"Roy what happened?" Diyata placed her hands on Roy's shoulder. "Is she okay?"

"I-I don't know, she's hysterical," Roy explained as he heard his oldest daughter's cries. "Lian calm down you're not making any sense! _Who_ died?"

" _YOU_ DID!" Lian shrieked as she started crying even harder, and Roy had to move the phone away from his ear. "YOU'RE DEAD, I SAW IT! Y-YOU WERE ON THE FLOOR, C-C-COVERED IN B-B, B, I-I-"

The last thing Roy heard was a retching noise over the phone before the call suddenly ended.

"Lian? Lian?!" Roy ran his hand through his hair steadily looking more upset before he took a deep breath. "Okay, okay," he told himself, "Keep calm. Keep calm and figure this out."

"Roy what was that all about?" Diyata further inquired, though Roy was as lost as her. "Why does she think you died?"

"I could barely follow what she was saying," Roy tried dialing another number, "Something about a book and sanctuary or something and somebody named 'Harley Quinn.' Come on, pick up, pick up!"

"Hold on," Diyata advised, "Where is she exactly?"

"She's in Gotham at Tim's house," Roy was waiting for the person he called to answer.

"If she's with her teammates, she's with Art's kid, right? Koryak? He can teleport?" Diyata remembered.

"Yeah but I don't have Koryak's number if he even _has_ a phone, I'm calling-Hello? Dominique?" Roy turned away from Diyata to speak to his other teammate, Dominique Wayne. "Listen something is wrong with Lian. She's with Rachel and the others at Tim's house and she sounds hysterical. I'm with Diyata at my house, can you-"

"Roy, Diyata, good evening."

"-Pick us up," Roy hung up as he watched a tall woman wearing a broad brimmed hat, wielding a deadly looking scythe in one hand and a smart phone in the other, manifest inside his kitchen.

"Are those corn muffins freshly baked?" Dominique Waynem, a.k.a. Ankou, psychopomp to lost children and the Spirit of Vengeance inquired.

…

"You, you-" Rei sputtered in outrage as Rachel did a little victory dance with her controller in her hands.

"Oh come on Rei, you said you weren't scared of Merman," Rachel chuckled as she waved the controller in the air.

"I didn't know Merman could do THAT!" Rei pointed an accusatory finger in Rachel's direction. "Liar! Deceiver! Batcheat!"

"I know and I'm still doing my victory dance," Rachel laughed as Rei began tossing throw pillows at her with super speed. "Wanna play again?"

"With you? Never again in my life!" Rei harrumphed and sank back into the couch. Rachel threw a pillow at him. "Can we get a snack first?"

"If Aunt Harriet made brownies do NOT eat all of-"

"Lian come back! Lian!"

Rei and Rachel were distracted from their faux arguing when they heard someone shouting in the hallway, followed by a door slamming shut. Before Rachel could blink, Rei was gone and zipped up to the side of Vanessa Kapatelis as she banged on the bathroom door.

"What's up, Nessquick?" Rei asked while using the nickname everyone knew Vanessa loathed, but she was too worried to care.

"Lian, come out of the bathroom!" Vanessa pleaded as she knocked on the door. "What happened in there?"

"What's going on?" Rachel joined her teammates and Rei could only shrug, being just as lost as her but not as lost as Vanessa. "Vanessa, what's happened to Lian?"

"I have no idea!" Vanessa started to explain, brushing away strands of her wavy brown hair from out of her face. "I was in our room trying to sleep, when I wake up to the sound of Lian sobbing. I get up, turn on the light, and she's in bed holding a comic and she looks like somebody murdered her pet cat or something!"

"Lian doesn't own a pet cat," Rei mentioned.

"NOT. THE POINT," Vanessa emphasized. "I tried to ask what was wrong and the next thing I know she's running into the bathroom with her phone."

"Guys shush," Rachel quieted them and pointed to the door. The three of them could hear Lian babbling in Navajo to someone, before she began screaming that someone had died.

"Is she talking to her dad?" Rei asked, catching disturbing snippets of the conversation. "She thinks her father's dead? Vanessa, do you know what she's saying? She's taught you some of her language."

"She's talking too fast for me to understand. Guys did something happen while I was asleep?" Vanessa asked, trying to get to the bottom of this and gradually losing her patience because of the state her best friend was in. "Is Roy okay?"

"How should we know?" Rei asked. "The two of us," he pointed to Rachel and himself, "Have been playing video games for the past couple of hours."

"She was fine a while ago," Rachel told Vanessa as she took out her phone. "Hold on, I'm gonna call Tim so he can call Roy."

"No need for that," a voice manifested out of nowhere. Rei let out a little frightened shriek and backed up into the next room as Ankou, Blazing Bow dressed in his pajamas, and Grey Tiger (minus her make-up, wig, and jacket) suddenly appeared in the hallway next to the two girls.

"Oh no," Rachel moaned, "If Ankou brought them then-"

As if on cue, Grey Tiger doubled over, clutching her mouth and trying not to puke. Ankou's teleporting had that effect on people, mostly because she was more used to travelling with people who were dead. Rachel hurried and pulled open a hall window before Diyata hurled on one of Tim's family's antique rugs. Diyata rushed to the open window and retched.

"Sorry," Diyata apologized to Rachel, "I just had half a corn muffin. And carrots, apparently."

"Children," Ankou tipped her hat to the three teens and smiled warmly. She had a great affinity for children, and in years past had babysat many of the young Super-Stars. "Always a pleasure."

"Guys where is Lian?" Roy immediately asked as he got his bearings, thankful he only took a sip of tea before Ankou teleported them to Wayne Manor.

"Thank God," Vanessa sighed and actually hugged Roy out of relief from all the nights she spent sleeping over at the Begay house. She'd honestly been scared something at happened to him. "You aren't dead. But now I'm more confused. Lian's in the bathroom and she won't come out."

"Roy what is going on?" Rachel referred to him by his real name, as he insisted all of Lian's teammates call him that. It was one of the reasons they liked him so much. "Lian apparently thinks you're dead?"

"The best I could get out of her was something about a book and me on the floor," Roy scratched the back of his head as he was still not sure what had caused all this.

"A book?" Rachel replied. "She specifically said a book?"

"Sort of," Roy sighed, "I was having trouble understanding her."

"Did she say 'Book' or 'Comic book?'" Rachel was getting an idea of what happened.

"I think it might've been comic book," Roy admitted.

"Pretty sure she said comic book," a voice from down the hall said. Everyone turned to see Koryak, Inuit teen vampire and the fifth Super-Star, standing beside a guilty looking Rei. Kory held a comic book in his hand.

"Where've you been?" Rachel wondered.

"I was out looking for something to snack on," Kory's fangs gleamed a bit as he spoke, not mentioning said snack was a raccoon. "And when I came in I heard you guys shouting about Lian. Then I saw Rei sneaking into the bedroom and found him looking for this," he finished explaining as he motioned to the aforementioned comic. Now all eyes were on Rei.

"Rei what did you do?" Vanessa folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"Nothing I swear!" Rei defended himself. "If I knew what was in that comic I would've never bought it, honest!"

"WHAT comic?" Roy finally asked, but then he groaned. "Is it a W. Simmons book?"

"Oh God," Diyata bristled at the name, "What did that hack do this time?"

"I would NEVER buy something written by W. Simmons!" Rei got angry at the mere implication of being associated with that name. "And even if I did I would never let Lian read it! I may be an idiot most of the time, but I'm not heartless!"

"Easy Rei," Roy assured his daughter's teammate, "No one's mad at you."

W. Simmons was an author of speculative fiction who made a name for themselves capitalizing over the cultural phenomena sparked from the deaths of the Secret Seven. Roy's father as well as six other heroes, Snow Owl, Ultimate Man, Supervalkyrie, Johnny Cyclone I, Power Lantern, and the Saturnian Stalker, had all been killed in a mysterious explosion alongside their archenemies in the Crime Club. The clownish Iago, the super genius Larissa Lennox, the depraved Prof. Rothbart, the sociopathic biker Dead Heat, the alien energy wielding Paradox, the carnival freak called the Flame Eater, and the British mercenary known as Witch of Pappelwick. The last one was Raymond's self-described "Arch-enemy," but Roy only met her once or twice.

No one could find any evidence to prove what caused their deaths, which led to many discussions, newspaper articles, and investigative specials asking "Who Killed The Secret Seven?" Then a few years ago, a comic company called Seagull Press started releasing books offering hypothetical scenarios on what may have happened aboard the S7's satellite headquarters. Every tale was penned by W. Simmons, and they almost always ended with a different killer. Sometimes it was one of the heroes, sometimes a villain. It was almost never Brave Bow, but that was because W. Simmons portrayed him as useless, a cheap knock-off of Snow Owl who died fairly quickly because he lacked any "Real" skills.

Roy hated those books, as did the other founders of the Justice Syndicate since they were all close to or related to someone in the Secret Seven. Tim Wayne's mother, Marta Wayne, had been Snow Owl. Many of the other heroes loathed those comics as well, and they were frequently trying to find out who W. Simmons was in order to stop their slander. But even a great detective like Owlwing or, say, the elastic private eye called Gumshoe, couldn't track them down. It was like W. Simmons didn't exist beyond their name.

The one bright spot Roy saw in this mess was at least they weren't dealing with W. Simmons.

"W. Simmons' name isn't on this book," Kory explained as he held up the offending comic in question. "It's written by somebody named King."

"Ewww, it's a DC comic?!" Vanessa looked at the cover like it was diseased. "They're almost as bad as W. Simmons."

"Pfft, can you believe what an egomaniac Ollie Queen is?" Diyata pointed to the cover. Specifically to a blonde woman standing next to what was obviously Oliver Queen ripping off Raymond Begay. "President Weenie had them make a stand-in for his dumbass wife, Mia."

"Mia's the daughter, Dinah's the wife," Rachel explained.

"Well they're both morons," Diyata reasoned.

"Excuse me," Roy took the comic from Kory to see for himself what the problem was and what had scared Lian so badly. From first glance the writing was atrocious and the artist was incapable of conveying any real emotion. But that was DC. He didn't expect less from a company that lived to serve Oliver Queen's petty hate on for Roy's family and the rest of the Justice Syndicate. He knew all about "Arsenal," the whitewashed counterpart made to look like Roy if he'd lived with "Green Arrow," Queen's attempt to mock everything Raymond Begay did and stood for as a civil rights and Native rights activist.

Roy felt disgust getting a sense this book was supposed to be about PTSD but was loaded with bloody imagery including what seemed to be a person getting eaten by crows. Then he got to the page as the Ultimate Man stand-in, Super-something, discovered two more bodies and…

Rei and everyone else took an involuntary step back as Roy swiftly ripped the comic in half as if it was a single tissue. The look on his face was horrifying, enough to make even a ghost like Dominique Wayne fearful. Though what was truly startling was the simple fact Roy Begay never, NEVER, got angry. When people thought of him, the first word to come to mind was "Sweetheart."

"Rei what did you do?" Vanessa repeated, zeroing in on her teammate once again as if this was his fault. Vanessa did tend to argue with Rei on a daily basis, but that was just the way their friendship was. However, getting an idea he might've hurt Lian and she was truly pissed off.

"I didn't do ANYTHING! And it's not like I wrote that stupid thing!" Rei defended himself.

"But you couldn't have looked through it before you bought it?" Vanessa continued, getting angrier because of what might've happened to Lian. "You just blindly get any comic someone recommends?"

"I was in a hurry at the store!"

"You're the Twister Kid!" Vanessa got up in Rei's face and poked his chest, "You're _always_ in a hurry!"

"Guys! Enough!" Rachel got between them before a fight sparked. "This isn't about Rei's spending habits, Vanessa. This is about Lian getting upset, and we aren't gonna help her by blaming each other over a dumb comic."

"Yeah, Nessa," Kory stepped in to defend Rei since he knew his teammate well enough to trust Rei would never willingly hurt his friends. "Rei rushes into stuff but he'd never do something to upset Lian this badly."

"Roy," Diyata placed a hand on Roy's trembling shoulder as his breathing intensified, the two halves of the offending comic held tightly in his big fists. "How bad was it?"

"Bad," Roy seethed.

"Ahem," Dominique cleared her throat and everyone turned to her. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I do believe Lian is still in that room and would like to see her father now."

Roy sighed and let the torn pages of the comics fall to the floor as he loosened his grip, kicking himself for not immediately going to his Sunflower's side.

"Thanks Dominique," Roy quietly said before taking several deep breaths in order to steady himself before gently knocking on the door. "Lian? It's me, Etai Yazi, can you-"

There was a sound of footsteps running towards the door and frantically undoing the lock. Roy took one step back as Lian yanked open the door and threw herself into her dad's arms and sobbed.

"You're okay," Lian's tears soaked her dad's shirt as she hugged him. "Thank God you're okay."

"Of course I am, Sunbeam," Roy held her tightly as his daughter kept crying.

"I saw," Lian gasped, "I-I saw you-!"

"I know, I know," Roy tried to soothe her. "But I'm here, okay?"

"Uh, Dominique," Rachel tugged on Dominique's shawl, "Maybe you should lose the scythe and everything for the time being."

"Oh!" Dominique felt awful, realizing if Lian saw her in her full "Ankou" regalia standing next to her father she might freak out even harder. "How rude of me," and with a wave of her hand she turned into a normal looking woman in a dark purple blouse.

Diyata picked up some of the torn pages to make out what had happened. She felt her heart sink into her stomach as she recognized what appeared to be a skinnier, whiter version of Roy sprawled on the floor, dead and covered in blood next to what she assumed was the Johnny Cyclone knock off.

"Someone needs to murder Oliver Queen," Diyata muttered as she watched Roy tried to comfort Lian in his arms.

With that, everyone in the room was in agreement.

…

"Oh my Goooooood," Tim Wayne moaned as he made his way up the stairs from the Owl's Nest into Wayne Manor. "I hate it whenever Mud Pack is in town," he groaned as he ripped off his mud and clay drenched costume. He decided to leave the articles of clothing on the stone steps and worry about them later. Sure Aunt Harriet was going to murder him, but he'd welcome death after the next hour long shower scrubbing mud out of his-

"-are you hungry? You want a pair of socks? You itch anywhere?"

Entering the doorway hidden by the old grandfather clock, Tim, wearing just his pants and boots, was surprised to see someone was throwing a party at his house and no one told him ahead of time.

"Uh…"

Tim entered the parlor to see Rachel, Vanessa, Koryak, Rei, as well as Diyata, Dominique, and Wayne Manor's housekeeper "Aunt" Harriet Cooper, were hovering around Roy and Lian Begay seated on the couch. All of them were dressed in pajamas except for Diyata and Dominique. The only three people who didn't look up to see Tim enter the room were the Begays and Vanessa, who kept her focus solely on Lian.

Tim felt foolish standing there, his black hair drenched with mud and dirt caking his face and getting stuck to his five o'clock shadow. Obviously this was a serious moment and he made it awkward.

"Mud Pack?" Rachel guessed.

"Did you leave your costume on the floor, Master Tim?" Harriet was immediately about to get on his case about it, but thought against it with the situation at hand.

"Yeah, and yes, but what is…" Tim motioned to everyone seated around the Begays. "This?"

"I told you I invited the guys over this weekend," Rachel reminded him.

"Yes but… you guys blew up another car, didn't you?" Tim guessed as he rubbed his temples, expecting some more exasperation heading his way.

"I'm never living that down," Rei threw his arms up in defeat, "Am I?"

"In fairness Rei," Kory began to point out, patting Rei on the back in consolation, "You DID blow up his car."

"IT WAS _POSSESSED_ , KORY!" Rei shouted, getting sick of having to justify what happened to the last Wingcycle.

"No one blew up a car Tim," Rachel clarified.

"Yes, Miss Lian just had a very bad fright," Harriet explained after she herself woke up and found out what was causing so much shouting. Harriet was well aware of her employer's nocturnal habits as well as that of his friends. "Miss Dominique brought over her father and Miss Diyata."

"Roy, Lian?" Tim hurried over to his friend and teammate, afraid of what transpired while he was out in the city.

"It's nothing," Lian avoided Tim's gaze, "It's stupid. I got worked up over nothing."

"No you didn't, Sunshine," Roy assured her.

"Got worked up over what?" Tim inquired.

"Nothing, I'm fine," Lian replied, though her bloodshot eyes from all her crying betrayed her. "Please, I-I don't want to talk about this again in front of Tim."

"Guys, I think Lian and I have to talk in private. Tim," Roy looked up, "Is there a room we can use where we won't be disturbed?"

"Of course," Tim offered immediately, confusion be damned. "Follow me."

"Come on, Lian," Roy gently helped Lian up off the couch.

"Do you want me to come with you, Lian?" Vanessa asked, not wanting to leave her best friend alone in such dire straits.

"Lian?" Roy calmly asked his daughter. "Is it okay if Vanessa joins us?"

"I'm sorry Nessa," Lian apologized, "I just wanna be alone with my dad for a bit."

"I understand," Vanessa accepted, though she felt like she was betraying Lian for not staying by her side. She held onto Lian's hand a bit longer and added "But call me if you need anything."

"Thank you, hon," Roy nodded at his daughter's best friend before Tim led them to another area of the mansion. "Come on, sweetie."

Tim led Roy and Lian into a room on the far end of the mansion, one they were certain not to be bothered in. It was Tim's brother Bruce's old bedroom, which had been empty ever since the night Bruce, as well as their father Tomas, had been shot to death. While Marta Wayne had left the room like a shrine to Bruce following his death, Tim had turned it into a guest room as he was tired of dwelling on Bruce's passing. He had enough on his hands dwelling on Marta's death.

Roy led Lian inside the room while Tim turned on the overhead lights. The young girl sat down on the recently cleaned bed when Tim pulled Roy aside.

"Roy, what's going on?" Tim whispered. "Was there some big emergency and I couldn't be reached?"

"Nothing like that, Tim," Roy quietly assured his teammate and friend, "I'll explain later. Thank you for the room and the privacy."

"Of course," Tim shrugged off Roy's thanks, "You know mine and Rachel's home is always open to your family."

"Same to you, bro," Roy hugged Tim, not worried about getting any of Mud Pack's residue on his shirt since it was already wet from Lian's crying.

Once Tim left the room, Roy sat down next to Lian on the wide bed. She was hugging a pillow to her chest and staring at her feet.

"Hey," Roy laughed as he gestured to their matching tees. "Serendipity or what?"

Lian didn't laugh.

"Sorry," Roy added, "Not the right time."

"Its fine dad," Lian didn't look up, "No. No it's not."

"Well I know my sense of humor is kind of-"

"No!" Lian quickly replied. "I don't mean that. I'm sorry. I just," Lian struggled to figure out what to say. "I feel so stupid, scaring everyone like that. Over a dumb DC comic book. I feel like such a baby."

"Lian, you don't have to apologize for anything, not to me or your friends or anyone," Roy explained as he tried to rub her back in order for her to relax a little. "You got upset because you thought I had died. You had every right to feel that way."

"I thought you were dead in a comic book," Lian groaned. "And it wasn't even a good comic."

"Ugh, I know, does anyone at DC even bother to try?" Roy agreed and then he realized something. "Damn, I should've brought some of your books with me. I wanted to mention I read that _Justice Cabal_ Annual, the Legends of the Dead Earth one? It was pretty good."

"It's okay," Lian muttered, "I liked the _Flex Mentallo_ annual better."

But then suddenly, Lian let out a cry of utter frustration and threw herself over the bed, burying her face in the sheets.

"What am I doing?!" Lian cried. "I just completely embarrassed myself in front of you and my friends over a stupid book, and now I'm talking about a totally different one like nothing happened?! What is wrong with me?!"

"Sunflower-"

"I-I mean who does that?!" Lian kept going. "So what if I was upset because it was a character based on you?! S-so what if it made me think about what might happen if, if anything bad could happen to you in real life?! So what if, if seeing him like that, all bloody and his, his, his eyes were closed and I closed my eyes and I saw you like that and…" Lian gasped, "And…"

She couldn't get the rest of the words out of her throat.

"Well, I did that."

Lian sat up, wiping the new tears streaming down from her eyes, not sure what her dad just said.

"Oh," Lian said and it started to hit her. "Oh my God. Daddy I," Lian tried to apologize as fast as she could, hugging him tightly. "I'm so sorry. You, and the stuff W. Simmons wrote about Grandpa Raymond. Of course. And Tim and his mom, and Sally's brother, and," Lian groaned. "How could I forget?"

"I wasn't just talking about your grandpa, Lian," Roy held her close.

"What do you mean?" Lian looked up at him and couldn't believe the pained expression on her father's face as he started to remember. It hurt Roy just to look her in the eye as he said this, but she needed to know he truly understood how she felt so she would stop beating herself up for what happened.

"You know DC's been around for a while, right?" Roy began to explain his past experience in this matter. "Well, a few years ago when you were about 3 or 4, they released this book called Cry for Justice. It was another attempt by Oliver Queen to look like God's gift to the unwashed masses. His 'Green Arrow' teamed up with a Power Lantern knock off saying they were gonna take a proactive stance against crime. The writing was terrible and the art was a mess. All the characters did were saying 'Justice' over and over again."

"Eww," Lian agreed.

"Well," Roy scratched the back of his head, "One day at the ranger station, somebody mentioned the comic to me because it looked like Ollie Queen was trying to get another rise out of me." Oliver Queen had a long standing grudge against the Begays due to all the protests and lawsuits Raymond Begay led against Queen Industries, back before he unfairly became President. Oliver was even the reason Raymond gained his so-called arch enemy the Witch of Pappelwick. But even though Raymond was long dead, Oliver tried to find ways to take out his petty anger on Roy. Seems being President was slightly hindering that from how bad it got before.

"What did President Weenie do this time?" Lian inquired.

"Heh, Weenie," Roy chuckled at the nickname but then he began to frown. "Well, his stand-in for me, that 'Roy Harper' guy, he kiiiiiinda lost an arm."

"No!" Lian gasped.

"Fifth issue," Roy recalled.

"Ugh, I hate Queen!" Lian threw a pillow at the wall imagining she was hitting Queen's head. "Why is he always trying to mess with us like this?"

"You know Ollie Queen," Roy threw a pillow alongside her, imagining the same target. "The minute someone gets on his bad side he won't let up until they're dead. God I remember how much trouble your grandpa gave him when he tried to build that condo outside Window Rock. He," Roy started to laugh, "He could always get ol' Ollie's face to turn that special shade of red."

"He's such a butthead," Lian harrumphed, "I can't believe he did that to you. I mean, to Roy Harper."

"That... wasn't what got me upset, Lian," Roy sighed.

"It wasn't?" Lian asked. "Then what happened?"

Roy didn't speak again for a full minute, closing his eyes and trying to steady himself. He held onto Lian's hand.

"In the last issue of the comic, the bad guy's machines malfunctioned and caused a bunch of earthquakes," Roy spoke in a low voice. "One of them hit Star City, which is where all the characters associated with Green Arrow lived."

"Did Roy Harper die?"

"…his daughter did."

Lian felt as though she'd been stabbed in the chest as her father's grip tightened.

"A house fell down around her. She'd," Roy swallowed, "She was crushed to death."

Lian immediately hugged her father, and he hugged her back. Neither of them said anything. Roy began to clearly recall the scene where that bastard Queen found his Sunshine's, found Lian Harper's body, after she'd been left alone by her idiot babysitter so there'd be an excuse for her to die. Roy hadn't thought about it in years, but it was clear as day in his head the moment he remembered.

"What did you do?" Lian asked. "After you found out?"

"I left the ranger station without saying anything, picked you up from daycare, brought you home, and held you in my arms for hours," Roy recalled. "I was terrified of letting you go. Oh Lian, I was a mess back then. I hadn't felt that bad since your grandpa died, but the thought of losing you drained the life out of me. The next few weeks were pure Hell. I barely left the house. I wouldn't eat. I wouldn't sleep. I'd stay up all night keeping an eye on you and then I'd make sure we were always in the same room together when you were awake. Even when I tried to eat I couldn't keep anything down. I lost like 20 pounds. Everyone at the ranger station was worried about me, and so were the guys in the Syndicate."

"You were that upset?" Lian knew it was a stupid question to ask, but she couldn't believe it.

"Lian, Etai Yazi," Roy looked at her with profound sadness in his gaze. "Back then it was just the two of us. You were the only family I had left. Losing my dad was horrible enough, but the thought of losing YOU would've brought my world to an end. And seeing that image of your, of her, of…" Roy put a hand over his mouth, "Even if it was just a comic, Oliver Queen knew what he was doing. He based those characters off of me and off of you deliberately to hurt us. I could've handled it if he only attacked me, I even laughed when I saw the picture of Red Arrow without his arm. But attacking you was something I wasn't prepared to deal with."

"What happened then?" Lian wondered, imagining her dad had to have snapped out of it.

"The guys in the Syndicate decided we needed a vacation," Roy explained. "A long one. It was their way of trying to keep an eye on me and you. We spent a few days on Sally's ranch, visited Julio at his apartment in Central City, Jillian invited us to the air base, Jia took us on a tour of Ivy University, we were everywhere. We capped off the trip by spending a week here in Tim's house, back when he was still transitioning."

"Jia Choi did something nice?" Lian could hardly believe it, knowing Jia, a.k.a. the size shifting heroine Atomic Star, was a benign but high functioning sociopath known for her emotional detachment to most things around her.

"She tried," Roy mentioned, "Thank her when you get a chance."

"Ah, I'm sorry," Lian apologized again, "That was rude. I know she tries. I'm just really tired. I think I remember the ranch," Lian started to recall. She'd been to Sally Selwyn, a.k.a. Ultimate Woman's ranch, a couple of times before, but she was specifically remembering the time her dad was describing. "Was that when there was that really bad thunderstorm?"

"Yes!" Roy's eyes lit up as she recalled, "And you got scared thinking ghosts were gonna come inside the house if the power went out so-"

"Sally got out those old sheets we cut holes into to pretend we were ghosts so they wouldn't scare us!" Lian laughed. "We spent all night wearing those things."

"Honestly, that trip was what I needed to get out of my head and back to work," Roy clarified. "I mean, I was still worried about you, but I had an easier time reaching out to Tim and the guys, and I started speaking with a therapist for a few months."

"What about Oliver Queen?" Lian frowned.

"The one form of revenge I settled on was how poorly that comic did," Roy explained. "It sold so badly DC almost went bankrupt, like a lot of Queen's companies did. It made me feel slightly better everyone was angry about Lian Harper's death, just not as upset as I was. Apparently she was pretty popular," Roy nudged his daughter, "Who'd have thought?"

"Well I am wonderful and lovable," Lian smirked.

"And so huggable too," Roy enveloped her in a bone crushing hug.

"Daddy don't choke me!" Lian gasped but kept laughing. "You're such a dork!"

"Genetics, Sunbeam," Roy warned her, "You're doomed."

"Wait if she was so popular why haven't I heard of her before?" Lian asked.

"After DC did that stupid reboot where they turned me, I mean, Roy Harper, into an alcoholic, they got rid of Lian altogether to try and avoid mentioning Cry For Justice ever again," Roy recapped. "Typical Queen to pretend a problem doesn't exist."

"Was that all you did?" Lian began to clarify "All you settled on?"

"Well I also punched the writer," Roy added in an offhand manner.

"You did not!" Lian gasped.

"Central City Comic Con," Roy mentioned. "While we visited Julio. Down in one punch. But after I explained to the guy who I was he apologized saying his editors told him what to do. I felt bad so I gave him a free shot and told him he had a good right hook," Roy then leaned forward to whisper in his daughter's ear. "He didn't."

"I can't believe you'd get in a fight with someone," Lian shook her head. "I mean someone who wasn't a supervillain or wasn't wearing a MAGA hat. Wait," a thought occurred to Lian, "What did _Jade_ have to say about this?"

"Your birth mom?" Roy shrugged. "I don't think she ever found out. I never told her. And if she did she never said anything to me."

"That sounds like her," Lian muttered.

"Do YOU want to be the one who tells her?" Roy asked.

"No," Lian scoffed at the notion. "I don't need to make her freak out. Isn't that my darling brother's job?"

"Ah Tommy's not so bad," Roy referred to Lian's half brother Tommy Nguyen, a.k.a. the Knave of Hearts, a son Jade conceived with the Polynesian mercenary who went by King Cat. He… did not have the best relationship with Lian. Roy thought he was funny. Lian didn't.

"If he's not so bad, does that mean you're finally gonna invite him to live with us, Mom and Phoebe?" Lian ribbed her dad.

"Do not even joke about such things," Roy said in total seriousness. He was still aware of what a destructive little hellion Tommy could be. Where was he keeping all those knives? But Roy's change of tone got a laugh out of both of them before he sighed again.

"Listen Lian," Roy ruffled her hair as he spoke, "I can't promise nothing is ever going to happen to you or to me. Or to any of us. I'd be a rotten parent if I said something like that to you. Your grandpa promised me he wasn't going to leave me like my birth parents did and… but I know he was trying to be a good dad, so I forgive him."

"What I'm trying to say is, it was okay for you to be upset by what you saw in that comic, and I understand perfectly how you feel because I had a similar experience. At least, I think I understand. You can tell me if I'm wrong."

"No, you've got it," Lian assured him.

"You're entitled to feel upset about these things, regardless of what I or anyone else has to say about it. But all I can tell you is, for as long as I am around, I'm going to do my best to make sure I stay around and be there for YOU. And Donna and Phoebe too. Someday, I'm gonna leave, and hopefully it won't be soon. Until then I am here for you. Just like your mom and your sister and your friends are here for you too. I am not going yet, no matter what Oliver Queen or DC Comics or W. Simmons or anyone has to say on that. Feel free to get upset and I'll do my best to be here to help you get through it."

"I'll help you too," Lian replied as she hugged him, "And I'm sorry you spent so long being scared for me. I wanna be there for you too, and if you're ever upset I wanna help you get through it."

"You've always been there for me, Etai Yazi," Roy assured her, "You're my Sunbeam. You light up my life just by being you."

Lian said nothing as she let go of her dad and looked up at him.

"'I light up your life?'" Lian repeated in stupefied disbelief.

"Li-"

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Lian practically bust a gut laughing. "I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry daddy," she giggled, "That was just so corny ahahaha! Did you have that one written in advance?!" And then she hugged him again. "Th-thank you," Lian kept saying, "That really did make me feel better."

"Not the reaction I was planning on," Roy patted her back, "But I'll take it."

"You're a good dad," Lian said.

"You're a great kid," Roy said.

(The End)


	6. Earth-27B: A Very Special VOT Christmas

Disclaimer: Characters owned by DC Comics

Here was have Earth-27B's version of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Vanguard of Tomorrow. The Vanguard come from a techno-organic future that was inspired from the "Good Future" levels in Sonic CD, as in it's a world where technology and nature exists side-by-side in a symbiotic relationship.

The Vanguard base themselves off many old Earth legends and fairy tales, utilizing "King" and "Queen" and such in their names.

The line up-includes:

Ultimadien (Supergirl)

Magno King (Cosmic Boy), Titan Queen (Saturn Girl), Storm Lord (Lightning Lad)

Scholastica V (Brainiac 5), Veil (Invisible Kid), Ariel (Chameleon Boy)

Spirit Queen (Phantom Girl), Mega Knight (Ultra Boy), Weird Sisters (Triplicate Girl), Pinball Wizard (Bouncing Boy)

Helios (Sun Boy), Storm Lady (Lightning Lass), Rose Elf (Shrinking Violet), Jim the Giant (Colossal Boy), Youkai (Matter-Eater Lad)

Tomorrow Girl (Dream Girl), Planet Boy (Star Boy), Albedo (Element Lad), Visionary (Sensor Girl), Sumo King (Karate Kid)

Grizzly Bear (Timber Wolf), Moonshadow (Dawnstar), Jack O'Lantern (Wildfire), Solve & Coagula (Chemical King), Sirena (Tyroc), Draug (Tellus)

Quartz (Blok), Pearl Priestess (White Witch), Gremlin (Quislet), Lady Dusk (Shadow Lass), Valiant (Mon-El), Twilight Queen (Night Girl)

Xephyr (XS), Djinni (Kinetix), Jackrabbit (Gazelle), Huldra (Monstress), Match Girl (Inferno), Wind Rider (Nightwind)

And there's also the Emergency Vanguard, based on the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

Boreas (Polar Boy), Paint Prince (Color Kid), Jack In The Pulpit (Chlorophyll Kid), Lady Eleanore (Infectious Lass), Polychrome (Rainbow Girl), Golem (Stone Boy), Shadow Puppet (Ron Karr), Janus (Double Header)

Their role in this universe is centered Ultimadien, the Supergirl counterpart, who was sent into the far future when Krypton was destroyed and her rocket was separated from her brother Kalal's. She spent years trapped in an orphanage for superpowered children until the Vanguard rescued her. All she wants is to be reunited with her brother, unaware that Ultimate Man's death is a fixed point in time and she might never see him again...

I wrote a little Christmas thing focusing on Ultimadien and Scholastica V, the Brainiac 5 stand-in.

* * *

Universe 27

Earth-27B

December 24th, 3018

A world very much like the one you used to know, but at the same time completely different. Or maybe not. It's hard to tell these days.

"Who let Youkai arrange the food!? The snack table's nothing but old tires!"

"Rose Elf is arguing with Jack-In-The-Pulpit about the holly and mistletoe. Again. He claims it's indecent."

"Paint Prince actually said decorating in red and green was too gauche. He wanted to do it all in puce, can you believe it? Thank God Huldra talked him out of it."

"Are they still taking bets for Titan Queen's showdown with Tomorrow Girl on the Holiday Elves?"

Kalala Jorul was at a loss for words. It was Earth date December 24th, and somehow the headquarters of the Vanguard of Tomorrow had been changed practically overnight. Glass balls and twinkling lights done in shades of crimson, emerald, gold, and silver, adorned every wall and every hall. Strange little plants with red berries and branches with a spicy aroma graced the ceiling.

It was Kalala's first winter season on Earth, after the Vanguard rescued her from Mater Narda's Home For Wayward, Spoiled, Rotten, Irredeemably Nasty Heroes the previous spring. Even though she had fought her fair share of battles with the Vanguard as Ultimadien, Kalala was still not used to life on Earth. And lately it seemed like life became more and more erratic as the year drew to a close.

First there was that odd ceremony involving candy, pumpkins, and ghosts, and then the riots about that Columbus person and the turkey revolts. Kalala was hoping by December there would be a reprieve, a time for pause and reflection, but the ridiculousness increased tenfold.

Everywhere she looked, people were rushing and running around getting themselves all worked up for December 25th. She just couldn't understand why.

"HiKalalabyeKalalanotimetochatMerryChristmas!" A voice sped by Kalala down the hallway. No doubt that was Xephyr, the team's resident speedstress.

"Xephyr! Get back here!" Another voice, this one sounding quite irate, called after Xephyr. "You always do this!"

"Djinni?"

"Oh, hey Ultimadien," Djinni, one of the team's resident magic users, stopped to catch her breath. "Did Xephyr go down this way?"

"Yes but-"

"Ugh! Every year!" Djinni complained. "She puts her Holiday Elf shopping off until the last second and then she expects ME to use my powers to whip something up for her. And this year she was shopping for me and she STILL asked me! How shameless can you be?"

"I-I'll have to take your word for it," Kalala stammered, having no idea what Djinni was talking about.

"Are you doing the Holiday Elf thing, too?" Djinni asked, running a hand through her thick red hair that tended to float around her head as if levitated by magic. Which, of course, it was.

"No," Kalala answered, but before she could explain she had no idea what a "Holiday Elf" was Djinni interrupted.

"That's cool, it's not everyone's cup of Konobrew," Djinni shrugged. "Ariel never does it since their people don't celebrate Christmas. They always spend the season on Durla."

"I hadn't even realized Ariel left," Kalala admitted. True enough, there were so many people in the Vanguard it was sometimes hard to keep track of everyone.

"I know Jim the Giant is still on vacation in Beanstalk City, and I think Storm Lord and Storm Lady are coming back tonight for the party," Djinni explained. "They were visiting their brother on Takron-Galtos."

"Why would they do that?" Kalala was perplexed since Storm Monger and the rest of the Entropy Brigade spent so much time trying to destroy the Vanguard.

"Well it's the Vanguard's Annual Christmas Bash," Djinni mentioned. "It wouldn't be a party without the Ranzz twins."

"No I meant-"

"I'm sorry I gotta see where Xephyr's trying to hide before she thinks I'll forget about this like I do every year," Djinni moaned. "I need to find Moonshadow and Grizzly Bear to track her down, excuse me."

"Of course," Kalala stepped aside as her teammate ran down the hallway. The conversation had left Kalala feeling more confused than ever, and there was only one person she could talk to at a time like this.

…

"Scholastica?" Kalala called out as she entered the vast laboratory. "Scholastica V, are you here?"

"Ultimadien!" A familiar voice answered, but not the one Kalala was expecting. She turned around to see a vial of a strange red powder floating in the air, entering through the same doorway. Kalala didn't need her X-ray vision to know someone was there. "How lovely to see y'all. Merry Christmas."

"Hello Veil," Kalala replied, but wasn't sure how to acknowledge the "Merry Christmas" portion of the invisible heroine's greeting. "Have you seen Scholastica?"

"Scholly? She's around here somewhere," Veil spoke as she waved the little bottle around, signifying her hand gestures. "I'm actually helping her with an important experiment."

"Well then I won't intrude," Kalala was about to turn around and leave before she felt Veil tug at her hand.

"Nonsense," Veil answered in that odd accent of hers. "I do declare I am certain Scholly is never too busy to see you."

"Oh!" Kalala blushed. "I mean, if it's important work-"

"Scholastica!" Veil cried as she dragged Kalala with her deeper into the lab. "You have a guest."

"I am fairly certain I told you I would be busy with rather delicate work, Veil," a voice responded, "And I did not wish to be disturbed until I finished."

"It's Kally," Veil added, using the other nickname the Guardians utilized for Kalala.

"I am in the back by the freezer," was Scholastica's immediate response. Veil couldn't help but giggle as she led Kalala deeper into the lab. The two young women found Scholastica V with her back turned to them. The green-skinned, yellow haired woman was bustling about a table loaded with all sorts of strange bottles, vials, and containers of odds and ends, this and that. The smell was so potent to Kalala's super-senses it was staggering.

"A-hem," Veil cleared her throat to get Scholastica's attention.

"Scholastica?"

"Oh, Ultimadien," Scholastica finally turned around, and for a moment one could swear she actually seemed happy. "Are you feeling well? You seem flushed."

"I'm fine," Kalala answered, before Scholastica looked at the beaker in her hand.

"Ah, forgive me," Scholastica apologized. "DYBBUK," Scholastic commanded to the advanced computer system that monitored and managed the building, "Please alter the ventilation in Laboratory 7."

"VENTILATING," a mechanized voice responded. Quickly the smell began to abate and Kalala's head started to clear.

"I did not mean to forget about your heightened olfactory sense, Ultimadien," Scholastica explained as she turned back to her work, "I assure you it won't happen again."

"I have that powder you needed, Scholly," Veil placed the vial on the table near Scholastica's right side.

"Mmhmm," Scholastica nodded as she began to mix something in a large bowl.

"What is it you're working on?" Kalala asked, looking over Scholastica's shoulder.

"Something revolutionary," Scholastica explained. "If my measurements and calculations are correct, what I am working on may in fact change the world."

That got Kalala intrigued. What was Scholastica working on? A vaccine? An energy drink? The secret to immortality?

"Well I can see I'm not needed here," Veil announced. "I'll leave you two alone. Will I be seeing you at the party, Kally?"

"I guess…" Kalala replied.

"Scholly?"

"Is this too much? I think so," Scholastica murmured to herself.

"Love you too," Veil blew an invisible kiss and departed.

"Um…" Kalala wasn't sure how to say what was on her mind. "What Veil said. Are you two-"

"In a romantic relationship?" Scholastica quickly added. "No, but she seems to find a form of amusement in trying to get a reaction from me by implying otherwise. Regardless, she means these comments in jest and so I do not take her seriously nor do I worry about her intent when we are alone."

"Oh good," Kalala sighed in relief before realizing how that sounded, "I mean, not that I thought Veil would ever-"

"How are you, Ultimaiden?" Scholastica asked, taking a spoonful of the red powder and mixing it in the larger bowl. "I, once again, must apologize. Things have become increasingly hectic as the Earthling new year approaches and I have lacked the time to see you. Are you well?"

Kalala found herself sighing once again. She didn't know why, but the way Scholastica always got to the point in their conversations put her at ease. Sometimes she felt Scholastica understood her better than Kalala understood herself.

"Are you having difficulty adjusting to life on Earth?" Scholastica mused. "Or is it merely the current season that has you feeling so out of sorts?"

"Is it that obvious?" Kalala twirled one of her long, dark microbraids in her finger.

"I admit it does not take a 12th level intellect to see you are not feeling your best. I promise, even though I am focused on my task at hand, I am happy to listen," Scholastica promised. "Speak freely."

Kalala looked around for a place to seat before she decided to hover in the air.

"I have no idea what everyone has been talking about for several weeks," Kalala admitted. "All this, um, 'Christmas,' I think it's called, has just been flying over my head. And I'm too embarrassed to ask what's going on."

"Yes, this time of year has a common effect on most people," Scholastica nodded while inspecting different vials. "Thankfully, this one year has been quiet compared to what the Vanguard of Tomorrow has previously endured."

"Really?" Kalala wondered. "I mean, things seem pretty crazy as is."

"Well, you were not a member last year when the Entropy Brigade unleashed their 'Anti-Claus Battalion' across the continent," Scholastica revealed. "Or the year before, when we were subjected to the Morganaverse."

"The what?" Kalala wasn't sure she understood that last part.

"Morgana the Manic attempted to trap the Earth in snowglobe universe, modeled after actual medieval times," Scholastica sniffed a jar and cringed, placing the jar down. "It was only thanks to Morgana's mother that the Vanguard was able to free Earth before she ruined the holiday season for eternity."

"I feel like I'm never going to get the hang of Earth life," Kalala rubbed her temples, "Maybe I'm always going to be an outsider among you all."

"You needn't feel such a way around the Guardians, but I understand where these feelings are manifesting from," Scholastica answered. "I experienced similar feelings when I officially left Coluan society for the first time. Believe it or not," Scholastica turned to face Kalala, "I was quite the introvert when I first joined the Vanguard."

Kalala didn't know what to say.

"That was my attempt at humor," Scholastica mentioned.

Kalala winced, feeling bad for not laughing.

"Veil feels I still need practice in that regard," Scholastica turned back to her work. "I am currently inclined to agree with her."

"It's more than that," Kalala continued.

"I know I am not as entertaining as those in the Emergency Vanguard, but-"

"No, no," Kalala quickly answered. "I didn't mean your jokes, I'm so-ugh, I keep apologizing."

"Ah, then I will not make assumptions until you finish speaking," Scholastic added.

"It's also all this talk about… family," Kalala looked down at the floor, feeling uncomfortable simply thinking of the word.

"I see," Scholastica responded.

"I don't get what this whole thing is supposed to be about, but I've gotten the feeling it has a lot to do with family. Family this, and family that. I just heard the Storm siblings are visiting their brother in prison even though just last week he tried to brainwashed Storm Lady into becoming a criminal. Why would they bother going to see him, when he keeps trying to hurt them both?" Kalala placed her hands over her face. "I don't get it. Maybe something's wrong with me."

"I know I said I would make no assumptions," Scholastica began. "I am about to rescind my previous statement. Forgive me."

Kalala looked up to see Scholastica taking hold of her hands.

"You are missing your parents and brother," Scholastica stated. "And it is putting you out of sorts with how our fellow Guardians are reconnecting with their immediate family members."

Her parents. Kalal, her older brother, the fabled Ultimate Man everyone told her so much about. Her parents, dead on Krypton. Her brother, lost somewhere in the 21st Century.

"…yes," Kalala looked down again, averting Scholastica's gaze. "I miss them. And all I want is to have them with me."

"You know that we swore once Klockwerx rescinded their ban on time tr-"

"I-I know," Kalala interrupted, "I know. That doesn't change that I miss everyone."

"There is still a chance we can save your brother if we could find him."

"But you can't save my parents, right?" Kalala bitterly asked, trying not to cry. "Because you've told me their deaths are a fixed point in time with Krypton's destruction. Because they had to die so our rockets could escape. Even if I find Kal, we can't be a family again."

They remained silent for a few moments. Kalala, not knowing what to say. Scholastica having forgotten about her supposedly important work on the lab table behind them.

"I do not know if it will help," Scholastica continued, "But I believe I can empathize with your feelings."

Kalala said nothing.

"I also lost my parents."

Kalala looked up.

"You don't have to-"

"It is not something I am ashamed of," Scholastica reassured Kalala. "I was too young to remember them, before all…" Scholastica motioned to the wiring and markings on her face, "Of this was done to me."

"Done to you?" Kalala was surprised. "I thought-"

"Yes, that I was born such as I am," Scholastica nodded. "It is not your fault for thinking thus. I have not been as open about my past as you have been about yours. The other Guardians know, but between you and I there has been no reason to share these details."

Scholastic stood up, and as she did Kalala lowered her feet to the ground and stopped floating.

"The original Scholastica was a human woman of Earth origin, chosen by the Brain Trust of Colu as part of an experiment to augment the intelligence of organic beings. Or rather, I should say abducted. Sadly, those early experiments did not factor in the original test subject's criminal behavior and deviant tendencies. They attempted to replicate the experiment through Scholastica II, who possessed none of the aberrant behavior of the original. But this too met with failure as far as the Brain Trust was concerned. Scholastica II lashed out and began an organization with the intent to police the galaxy, becoming what was known by Earth standards as a fascist."

"Why were these Brain Trust so interested in experimenting on humans?" Kalala asked.

"They wished to see if organic life forms were capable of reaching the same levels of thought and intellect as the machine minds of Colu," Scholastica answered, focusing on her concoction as she told her story. "They wanted to see if it was possible to create a perfect human machine. I am proof that they continued to try, even after Scholastica I and II lashed out."

"What'd they do next?" Kalala wondered.

"The Brain Trust began to believe the problem rested within the relative ages of their test subjects," Scholastica continued. "Because Scholastica I and II were both adult human females, the Brain Trust believed the problem was in behavior they developed later in life. The solution that appeared to them was to start earlier. Younger."

"Oh Scholly, no," Kalala shook her head, looking horrified as she realized where this was going.

"They made sure to replace Scholastica III with a substitute when she was abducted," Scholastica added, her voice betraying no emotion. The way her fist trembled, on the other hand, was a different story. "A member of Ariel's species, I believe. Bio-engineered to stay in human form. In old Earth legends, these were called 'Changelings.' It seemed this was indeed the way for the Brain Trust to achieve their desired results. Scholastica III was everything the Brain Trust hoped for in their experiments. What they did not expect was for her to create Scholastica IV."

Scholastica began to methodically stir the contents of the bowl without adding anything.

"Why would she want to do this?" Kalala asked. "If she was so perfect?"

"Maybe she wished to see if she could perform their experiment better," Scholastica mused. "If she was a perfect human machine, than logic stood to reason she would surpass her creators. Well, she had. And Scholastica IV surpassed her. It just happened sooner than her creator expected. After… disposing of Scholastica III and most of the Brain Trust, Scholastica IV took over Colu. With no one to monitor her, she began to conduct her own experiments on human/machine hybrids. I was one of those hybrids."

Kalala wasn't sure what to say, but she did place her hand on Scholastica's shoulder. Scholastica did not move away from her.

"My, 'Mother' I guess you would call her, wished to see how a society of hybrids would co-exist with each other. Yet her megalomania had not reached extreme levels just yet. She allowed free will to enter her project. What good is an experiment if the unknown doesn't factor into it? Is it really an experiment if you know what happens in the end? She sought to abduct individuals of every species, age, and gender. I was one of the younger subjects, replaced by a Durlan too, but I was not designated 'Scholastica V.' Not yet. I was given a numerical designation much like my other so-called siblings."

"What was it?" Kalala asked.

"I do not wish to say. For the sake of my individuality," Scholastica sighed. "I have avoided ever referencing my past designation. I wish to focus on my identity now."

"But you call yourself Scholastica V, after the woman who stole you from your family?" Kalala was confused. "Why would you do that to yourself?"

"It was my triumph over my creator," Scholastica explained. "Much in the way she triumphed over her creator. But my means to do so were not for power to rule or control. Scholastica IV wished to extend her power beyond Colu and simply abducting the odd test subject. Had she seen her way, my progenitor would have converted the entire galaxy, if not universe. The unknown variables she had allowed in her experiment began to frighten her. Her subjects disagreed with her. They began asking questions she did not want to answer. She wished for total control, and slowly began to convert others to her way of thought. It was only thanks to my escaping and reaching the Vanguard that she was stopped. In the aftermath, the new Coluan society elected me 'Scholastica V' as their official representative to the outside world. But I assure you, I have no intent to create a 'Scholastica VI.'"

Kalala had to let all this sink in first before she said anything. Scholastica's tale seemed to have so much more… depth, than Kalala's own past struggles. So much had been on her shoulders. It made Kalala's troubles seem insignificant.

"You were strong enough to leave on your own," Kalala stated, slipping her arms around Scholastica's waist and hugging her.

"I was terrified," Scholastica disagreed with Kalala, "but logic dictated my creator had to be stopped, so I overcame my fear."

"Did you ever try to find your parents?" Kalala asked. "Your real parents, I mean."

"I found out some time ago they had been dead for a number of years," Scholastica bluntly stated. "The Durlan doppelganger left in my place had an, I guess some would call it, a relapse to baser instincts. They did not survive." Scholastica turned around to look into Kalala's eyes. "I am aware that sounds cold, yet it is hard for me to feel so emotional for those I do not remember. It did hurt at the time to learn they were gone. It still does. Just not as much as I would like to admit."

"So, you've never been able to celebrate the holiday with your family either," Kalala reasoned.

"Not at all," Scholastica motioned to the large bowl she'd been working on. "I'm celebrating it with them right now. Come."

…

"She had been. Drinking. Too much eggnog," Sirena sang, to the bemusement of those listening.

"Why is she doing a spoken word version of classical music?" Solve asked his other half, Coagula.

"Just let her have this," Coagula whispered back to her male side. "It's the one time of year she feels comfortable experimenting."

The grand hall of the Vanguard HQ was officially decked out for the holiday season. The lights, the music, the food (okay they had to do an emergency order at the local Planet Kryptons after Youkai's disastrous banquet, but still), the tree, the presents. It was gorgeous.

Sirena of Marzaal Island was doing her yearly set of holiday classics. Titan Queen and Tomorrow Girl were in the final round of trying to predict who had received what for Holiday Elf, the Titanian telepath going brain to brain with Tomorrow Girl's amazing four-lobed brain. Paint Prince was somewhat huffy they hadn't let him use puce like he wanted, but he had to agree Huldra had style.

Storm Lord and Storm Lady had returned just as the party got into full swing, while Xephyr was profusely apologizing to Djinni for the Holiday Elf fiasco.

Now all that was needed was…

"HEY EVERYONE!" Veil's voice cried out through the hall as Scholastica and Kalala entered, Kalala carrying a very large crystal bowl for Scholastica. "SCHOLLY'S PUNCH IS DONE."

Delighted cheers and cries rang throughout the room, and everyone began to crowd around Scholastica and Kalala.

"Alright!" Pinball Wiz cheered. "Now it's a party!"

"Some of us have been waiting all year for this," one of the Weird Sisters said.

"I waited longer than you," the second argued with the first.

"I was waiting longer before ANYONE," the third yelled.

"I don't get it," Kalala said to Scholastica, "I thought you said this was going to change the world."

"It does!" Pinball Wiz explained, hoisting up a cup in the air. "Scholly's been making this punch for us every year during the holiday party."

"She ONLY makes it for the party," Pearl Priestess handed a cup to her beloved Quartz.

"She refuses to share the recipe," Titan Queen sipped at her drink and savored it. "None of us can get it out of her. God knows I've tried but her mental defenses are incredible."

"All that work you were doing was for punch?" Kalala asked as Scholastica handed her a cup.

"Ridiculous, I know," Scholastica shrugged. "But it makes them happy."

Kalala looked into the cup of dark red juice and sniffed. She had to admit it smelled good, but cautiously took a sip.

"Oh. OH," Kalala blinked. "That is good."

"Thank you," Scholastica smiled, which was a rare occurrence. "Your praise means much to me. Now then," Scholastica placed her arm around Kalala's waist. "Shall I help you to better understand the rest of the traditions that come with the holiday?"

"O-okay," Kalala smiled and blushed, "Like what?"

"Well for starters," Veil's voice floated behind them, holding a small plant above their heads, "I do believe y'all are standing under the mistletoe."

Kalala looked up.

"What's th-?" Kalala asked, but before she could finish, Scholastica planted a kiss firmly on her lips.

"Do you feel better?" Scholastica asked.

"I. I," Kalala gulped. "I mean, yes, but…"

"But?" Scholastica coyly asked.

"What's mistletoe for?" Kalala asked.

Scholastica looked at the clueless expression on Kalala's face and sighed before downing her own glass of punch in one gulp.

Logic dictates it's always the cute ones.

(The End)


End file.
